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CARPENTER'S  GEOGR/IPHICAL  READER 


ASIA 


BY 

FRANK   G.    CARPENTER 


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NEW  YORK  •:•  CINCINNATI  •:•  CHICAGO 

AMERICAN    BOOK    COMPANY 


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BOOKS  BY 
FRANK   G.   CARPENTER 


ITntroDuctfon  to  (Beograpb^ 

AROUND  THE  WORLD  WITH  THE  CHILDREN 

(BeoQrapbfcal  IReaDere 

NORTH  AMERICA 

SOUTH  AMERICA 

EUROPE 

ASIA 

AFRICA 

AUSTRALIA  AND  ISLANDS  OF  THE  SEA 

IRcaOers  on  Commerce  atiD  IfnDustr^ 

HOW  THE  WORLD  IS  FED 
HOW  THE  WORLD  IS  CLOTHED 
HOW  THE  WORLD  IS  HOUSED 


Copyright,  1897  and  1911,  by 
FRANK  G.   CARPENTER. 

Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London. 


•  •  •  • ,  » 

V    P    '53 


PREFACE 

This  book  is  intended  to  be  used  as  a  reader  in  con- 
nection with  the  study  of  geography.  It  is  hoped  that 
it  will  put  life  into  the  skeletons  known  as  the  maps  and 
clothe  them  with  the  flesh  and  blood  of  human  interest, 
making  the  various  countries  and  peoples  of  Asia  a  living 
whole  in  the  minds  of  the  children.  It  may  be  used  also 
for  the  teaching  of  reading,  the  story  holding  the  pupil's 
attention  and  at  the  same  time  giving  him  an  introduction 
to  the  study  of  geography  and  training  him  to  think  along 
geographical  lines. 

Instead  of  the  title  chosen,  the  book  might  be  called 
**  A  Trip  over  Asia  with  the  Children  "  ;  for  it  is  the  record 
of  a  personally  conducted  tour  of  the  Asiatic  continent 
which  is  supposed  to  be  made  by  every  child  who  reads  it 
It  is  the  children  who  do  the  traveling  over  seas  and  lands, 
and  it  is  they  who  visit  their  little  world  brothers  and 
sisters,  seeing  them  at  their  work  and  their  play,  staying 
with  them  in  their  homes  and  learning  just  how  they  live. 
It  is  the  children  who,  as  they  travel  over  the  several 
countries,  observe  the  geographical  features  which  have 
so  much  to  do  with  making  those  countries  what  they  are, 
and  in  creating  the  industries  and  the  place  which  their 
inhabitants  have  in  the  commerce  and  work  of  the  world. 
In  these  travels  the  children  learn  things  by  their  own 
experiences  and  observations.  They  study  the  oceans 
on  the  steamers,  and  see  the  work  of  the  great  rivers  as 
they  travel  upon  them  in  boats.     It  is  the  same  with  the 

7 


Ai  f\Kf>*^ 


8  PREFACE 

plains  and  the  lowlands  over  which  they  go  on  foot  or 
on  horseback,  or  by  steamer  and  car,  and  so  also  with 
the  mountains  they  cHmb  and  the  deserts  they  traverse 
upon  camels.  They  study  the  civilization  of  the  various 
peoples  while  amongst  them,  learning  how  each  is  gov- 
erned, how  educated,  and  all  about  its  industrial  life,  and 
especially  those  features  of  it  which  are  more  or  less 
related  to  the  United  States. 

The  changes  of  this  twentieth  century  which  are  still 
going  on  in  the  various  countries  of  Asia  are  made  promi- 
nent, and  also  the  influence  which  those  changes  may 
have  upon  us  and  the  rest  of  the  world.  In  the  descrip- 
tion of  each  country,  the  author  has  aimed  to  leave  in  the 
mind  of  the  pupil  a  definite  whole  comprising  the  things 
he  should  know  concerning  it. 

The  book  is  to  a  large  extent  the  result  of  the  original 
researches  of  the  author,  who  has  made  repeated  tours 
to  the  countries  described,  including  two  journeys  around 
the  world,  during  each  of  which  Asia  formed  a  large  part. 
Many  of  the  descriptions  were  written  on  the  ground  amid 
the  scenes  pictured,  and  the  most  of  the  illustrations  are 
from  photographs  made  by  the  author  especially  for  this 
volume. 

To  make  the  text  easier  to  read,  the  pronunciation  of 
the  more  difficuh  geographical  names  and  foreign  words 
is  indicated,  using  Webster's  diacritical  marks. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGB 

1.  Introduction ii 

2.  From  America  to  Japan  on  a  Big  Ocean  Steamer    .       17 

3.  The  Island  Empire  of  Japan 23 

4.  Yokohama,  a  Japanese  Seaport 31- 

5.  Tokyo,  the  Capital  of  Japan 35 

6.  Home  Life  in  Japan 46 

7.  The  Emperor.     How  Japan  is  Governed      •        •        •      57 

8.  Japanese   Children   at    School.     Books   and   News- 

papers   65 

9.  Japanese  Children  at  Play 72 

10.  Japanese  Farms  and  Farmers 77 

11.  Commercial  and  Industrial  Japan        '.        .        .        .      87 

12.  Korea,  the  Hermit  Nation    .        .        .        .        .        .94 

13.  Business  among  the  Koreans.    Education  .        .        .101 

14.  China iii 

15.  The  Great  Capital  of  China 122 

16.  The  Government  and  the  Schools       .        .        .        .128 

17.  The  Great  Wall  of  China 136 

18.  Mongolia  and  Manchuria 142 

19.  Chinese  Boats  and  Boat  People 150 

20.  Chinese  Farms  and  Farming.    Tea       .        .        .        .156 

21.  Industrial  China •.     164 

22.  Curious  Chinese  Customs 170 

23.  Foreign  Colonies  in  China 176 

24.  Indo  China 181 

25.  Siam  and  the  Siamese 187 

26.  The  King  of  Siam  and  his  Government.    Buddhism  .     194 

9 


lO  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

27.  Singapore  and  the  Malays 201 

28.  In  British  Burma 211 

29.  With  the  Burmese  at  Home 218 

30.  The  Working  Elephants  in  Burma       .        .        .        .  223 

31.  Industrial  Burma.     Rice 227 

32.  General  View  of  India 233 

33.  The  Wild  Animals  of  India 240 

34.  The  Cities  of  India 247 

35.  The  Villages  of  India.     Home  Life    .        .        .        .255 

36.  Among  the  Indian  Farmers 262 

37.  The  Stores  and  Trades  of  India         ....  269 

38.  The  Religions  of  India.    A  Visit  to  Benares    .        .  276 

39.  The  Native  States  of  India.    A  Visit  to  the  Rajah 

OF  Jaipur .        .        .  285 

40.  Above   the   Clouds;    or,   Nature  and   Man   in  the 

Heart  of  the  Himalaya  Mountains       .        .        .  295 

41.  Tibet  and  the  Tibetans 306 

42.  Afghanistan      . 317 

43.  Persia 321 

44.  Arabia,  or  Life  in  the  Desert 333 

45.  In  an  Arabian  Village.     Mecca  and  Medina     .        .  342 

46.  Asiatic  Turkey.     In  Palestine  and  Mesopotamia      .  347 

47.  Travels  among  the  Turks 360 

48.  Russia  in  Asia.    Transcaucasia,  Turkestan,  and  the 

Steppes 367 

49.  Russia  in  Asia.     Siberia 373 

Index 381 


TRAVELS  THROUGH   ASIA 


I.     INTRODUCTION 

THIS  book  is  to  be  the  story  of  our  travels  through  the 
grand  division  of  Asia.  Each  one  who  reads  it  is  to 
be  a  member  of  the  party,  and  we  shall  go  together  across 
the  oceans  and  over  the  mountains,  valleys,  and  plains, 
noting  for  ourselves  the  many  strange  things  and  peoples 
we  see.  Our  journey  will  be  a  long  one.  We  shall  travel 
in  a  westerly  direction,  and  clear  around  the  world  before 
we  get  back  to  our  homes. 

The  first  men  to  make  the  trip  round  the  globe  started 
out  about  four  hundred  years  ago.  They  embarked  from 
Seville,  Spain,  in  five  little  sailing  vessels  under  the  com- 
mand of  Ferdinand  Magellan,  a  Portuguese,  who  had  en- 
tered the  service  of  King  Charles  V  of  Spain.  The  first 
stage  of  their  journey  was  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  where  they  discovered  its  beautiful  bay. 
They  then  coasted  along  the  eastern  shores  of  South 
America  to  the  Strait  of  Magellan,  which  was  named 
after  their  leader.  Passing  through  that  strait,  they 
came  into  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  crossing  it  landed  in 
the  Philippine  Islands. 

That  was  almost  two  years  after  starting,  and  the  fleet 
had  suffered  many  disasters.  One  of  the  ships  was  lost 
before  reaching  the  Strait  of  Magellan ;  and,  shortly  after 

II 


12  INTRODUCTION 

that,  another  deserted,  and  returning  to  Spain,  reported 
that  the  rest  of  the  fleet  had  been  destroyed.  A  third 
vessel  was  burned  while  in  the  Philippine  waters,  and 
Magellan  lost  his  life  there  while  fighting  with  the  natives 
of  one  of  the  islands.  The  remaining  two  ships  were 
taken  by  the  survivors  to  the  Moluccas  in  the  Dutch  East 
Indies,  where  one  of  them,  the  Victoria^  was  refitted  and 
loaded  with  spices.  It  was  brought  back  to  Spain  by  way 
of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  the  west  coast  of  Africa, 
and  in  September,  1522,  came  to  anchor  in  the  harbor  of 
Seville,  having  completed  the  first  voyage  ever  made 
around  the  world.  That  voyage  took  a  little  more  than 
three  years,  and  it  was  full  of  dangers,  hardships,  and 
disasters.  The  trip  around  the  globe  can  now  be  made 
in  less  than  three  months ;  and  if  one  does  not  go  into 
the  interior  of  the  countries,  the  travel  is  as  safe  and  as 
comfortable  as  any  we  have  at  home. 

This  tour  of  ours,  however,  is  not  a  mere  sea  trip  around 
the  world.  It  will  require  many  long  journeys,  and  some 
of  them  will  be  difficult  ones,  embracing  all  sorts  of  expe- 
riences. We  shall  go  on  water  and  land,  by  canoe  and 
by  steamer,  on  foot  and  on  horseback,  by  train  and  by 
carriage,  and  in  some  of  the  wilder  regions  shall  need 
elephants,  camels,  and  perhaps  yaks  to  carry  our  bag- 
gage. We  shall  make  many  long  jumps,  and  at  times, 
like  Hop  o'  my  Thumb,  the  little  fellow  who  wore  the 
seven-league  boots,  may  take  miles  at  one  step. 

We  shall  get  to  Asia  as  quick  as  we  can,  and  after  leav- 
ing there  come  home  without  stopping.  The  exploration 
of  a  continent  is  a  vast  undertaking,  and  Asia  is  the  largest 
of  all  the  world's  grand  divisions.  It  contains  almost  one 
third  of  all  the  dry  land  upon  earth.  It  is  larger  than 
North  and  South  America,  and  both  Europe  and  Africa 


(13) 


14  INTRODUCTION 

could  be  spread  out  upon  it  and  leave  enough  room  around 
the  edges  for  half  the  states  of  the  Union. 

Asia  is  a  land  of  mountains  and  plains.  It  has  the 
loftiest  plateaus,  and  the  highest  peaks  known  to  man. 
Mount  Everest,  in  the  Himalayas,  is  over  twenty-nine 
thousand  feet  high,  its  top  being  often  hid  in  the  clouds 
at  a  point  almost  six  miles  above  the  Indian  Ocean  which 
lies  just  below  it.  The  continent  has  many  mighty  rivers, 
such  as  the  Ganges,  the  Amur,  and  the  Yangtze ;  some  of 
its  regions  are  among  the  best-watered  parts  of  the  globe, 
and  many  of  our  journeys  will  be  upon  boats.  It  has  also 
vast  deserts ;  and  upon  the  high  dry  wastes  of  Mongolia, 
Tibet,  Persia,  and  Arabia  we  may  travel  on  camel-back  for 
thousands  of  miles  and  be  in  sand  and  rock  all  the  way. 

This  wonderful  country  has  all  sorts  of  climates.  Its 
northernmost  parts  are  hidden  by  ice,  while  the  lands 
farthest  south  lie  not  far  from  the  Equator.  Northeastern 
Asia  extends  out  into  Bering  Sea,  almost  touching  Alaska. 
On  the  Siberian  tundras  we  shall  need  furs  and  sleeping 
bags  to  keep  out  the  cold ;  and  in  the  south  shall  almost 
roast  in  the  thinnest  of  cottons.  In  the  north  we  may  use 
dogs  and  reindeer  to  drag  us  over  the  snows;  while  in 
Siam  and  Burma,  elephants  will  carry  us  on  our  way 
through  the  jungles. 

A  country  of  so  many  climates  and  soils  should  raise  all 
kinds  of  crops.  In  northern  Asia  and  on  the  highlands 
of  India,  wheat  and  other  hardy  grains  are  produced  in 
abundance,  while  lower  down  are  to  be  found  cotton 
plantations.  Asia  is  a  land  of  tea  and  silk.  It  has  some 
of  the  richest  of  rice  fields ;  and  it  yields  fruit  of  every 
description  from  the  pears,  apples,  and  peaches  of  the 
north  to  the  bananas,  pineapples,  and  mangosteens  of  those 
regions  which  lie  in  the  tropics^ 


INTRODUCTION  1 5 

Most  interesting  of  all,  however,  are  the  people.  Asia 
has  always  been  one  of  the  most  important  parts  of  the 
world  as  regards  its  population.  History  tells  us  that  it 
is  the  oldest  of  all  inhabited  countries,  and  it  is  believed  by 
many  to  have  been  man's  first  home.  Our  own  ancestors 
of  the  long  ago  are  said  to  have  come  from  India;  whence 
they  made  their  way  north  into  Europe.  They  populated 
that  continent,  and  later  some  of  their  descendants  crossed 
the  Atlantic  to  found  the  New  World.  Asia  also  contains 
the  lands  of  the  Bible.  It  was  the  birthplace  of  Jesus,  and 
the  home  of  Adam  and  Noah  and  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob. 

The  whole  earth  is  said  to  have  about  sixteen  hundred 
million  people,  and  of  these  more  than  nine  hundred  mil- 
lions are  Asiatics.  They  number,  therefore,  more  than 
one  half  of  the  whole  human  race,  and,  considering  the 
world  as  one  vast  family,  are  largely  in  the  majority.  Let 
us  stop  for  a  moment  and  see  what  that  means. 

If  all  the  men,  women,  and  children  on  this  big  round 
globe  could  be  gathered  together  into  one  field,  more  room 
would  be  needed  for  the  people  of  Asia  than  for  all  of  the 
others.  They  would  take  up  more  than  half  of  the  field, 
and  as  we  looked  at  them  they  might  seem  very  strange. 
One  third  of  the  whole  crowd  would  be  of  the  Mongolian 
race,  having  yellow  skins,  and  eyes  which  are  slanting  and 
of  the  shape  of  an  almond.  The  majority  of  the  Mongolians 
would  be  Chinese,  the  boys  and  men  having  their  heads 
shaved  up  to  the  crown  and  long  braids  of  black  hair  hang- 
ing down  from  their  scalp  locks.  There  would  be  millions 
of  gayly  dressed  Chinese  women  hobbling  along  on  feet  so 
tied  up  that  they  could  not  move  about  without  pain,  and 
a  vast  number  of  Chinese  children  dressed  in  gowns. 
There  would  also  be  millions  of  brave  little  Japanese  men 


I6  INTRODUCTION 

as  straight  as  an  arrow  and  Japanese  girls  with  yellow 
babies  tied  to  their  backs.  There  would  be  yellow-skinned, 
slant-eyed  men  from  Siam  with  their  hair  standing  out  over 
their  heads  Hke  the  bristles  of  a  shoe  brush,  and  light 
brown  men  from  Burma  with  their  hair  done  up  on  the  tops 
of  their  heads. 

There  would  be  hundreds  of  millions  of  dark-faced 
people  from  India  with  features  like  ours ;  and  here  and 
there,  moving  in  and  out  through  the  crowd,  yellow-skinned 
Koreans  in  gorgeous  gowns  which  fall-from  their  necks  to 
their  feet.  There  would  be  many  men  wearing  turbans 
and  gowns,  and  some  dressed  only  in  sheets.  There  would 
be  silk-clad  maidens  from  Burma  with  plugs  in  their  ears  as 
big  around  as  your  thumb,  and  dark-faced  Hindu  women 
wearing  white  cotton,  and  with  rings  on  their  fingers  and 
bells  on  their  toes.  There  would  be  sober-faced  Persians 
of  a  sallow  complexion,  Arabian  Bedouins  as  black  as  a 
negro,  and  fur-clad  Siberians  with  copper-hued  faces. 
There  would  also  be  Syrians,  Armenians,  and  Turks,  each 
in  his  own  costume,  but  having  many  things  in  common 
with  the  rest  of  the  crowd. 

If  we  should  continue  to  watch  these  people  from  Asia, 
we  might  observe  that  they  do  but  few  things  as  we  do. 
Most  of  them  sit  on  their  heels  instead  of  on  chairs,  and 
millions  of  them  use  wooden  pillows  and  sleep  on  the  floor. 
The  majority  of  the  men  dress  in  gowns  of  one  kind  or 
other,  and  many  of  the  women  go  about  with  veiled  faces. 
We  should  find  that  their  religions  and  ideas  are  different 
from  ours.  Millions  of  these  people  worship  the  prophet 
Mohammed ;  others  take  the  laws  of  life  as  laid  down  by 
Confucius;  while  many  follow  the  teachings  of  Buddha,  a 
prophet  who  lived  more  than  five  hundred  years  before 
Christ. 


ON  A  BIG   OCEAN   STEAMER  1/ 

Moreover,  if  we  could  follow  them  to  their  homes,. we 
should  discover  that  each  race  and  country  has  more  or 
less  civilization,  and  that  in  some  respects  many  are  quite 
as  advanced  as  ourselves.  They  have  mighty  cities  con- 
taining hundreds  of  thousands  engaged  in  all  sorts  of  trade. 
Some  nations  have  millions  of  farms  as  well  kept  as  we 
keep  our  gardens,  and  also  stores  and  factories  and  temples 
and  schools  without  number. 

In  many  places  the  people  can  show  us  ancient  struc- 
tures which  are  still  among  the  world's  wonders.  Of 
these  are  the  walled  cities  of  China,  the  feudal  castles  of 
Japan,  the  Golden  Pagoda  in  Burma,  and  the  beautiful  Taj 
Mahal  at  Agra,  North  India.  We  shall  also  find  many 
modern  buildings  in  course  of  construction,  and  shall  learn 
that  these  eastern  countries  are  changing  and  their  people 
are  adopting  many  of  the  inventions  and  ways  which,  until 
within  a  few  years,  were  common  only  to  us  and  to  the 
others  of  our  race  in  the  lands  of  the  west.  But  we  shall 
see  all  this  much  better  as  we  proceed  with  our  travels. 

2.    FROM    AMERICA  TO   JAPAN   ON  A   BIG 
OCEAN    STEAMER 

OUR  first  trip  is  to  be  across  the  Pacific,  and  we  shall 
sail  from  America  for  the  land  of  Japan.  The  Pacific 
is  the  largest  of  the  oceans.  From  north  to  south  it  is 
more  than  three  times  as  long  as  the  distance  from  New 
York  to  San  Francisco ;  and  between  the  Western  Conti- 
nent and  Asia,  as  it  goes  toward  the  south,  it  spreads  out  in 
the  shape  of  a  gigantic  fan,  forming,  as  it  were,  a  great 
liquid  wedge  between  bur  world  and  that  on  the  other  side 
of  the  globe.     The  edge  of  the  wedge  is  driven  in  between 


i8 


FROM  AMERICA  TO  JAPAN 


the  two  great  bodies  of  land  at  Bering  Strait.  At  that 
point  it  is  less  than  forty  miles  wide,  a  distance  so  short 
that  it  is  said  on  clear  days  one  might  sit  in  his  reindeer 
sledge  in  Alaska  and  see  the  cold  hills  of  Siberian  Russia. 
The  wedge  widens  rapidly  as  we  go  to  the  south,  and  if  we 
attempted  to  cross  it  along  the  line  of  the  Equator,  starting 


"The  ship  itself  is  a  wonder.' 


in  South  America,  we  should  travel  ten  thousand  miles 
before  we  came  to  the  Moluccas,  the  group  of  islands 
where  Magellan's  ships  landed  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Pacific. 

If  we  sailed  from  Lower  California  along  the  Tropic  of 
Cancer,  we  should  have  eighty-five  hundred  miles  to  go 
before  we  reached  China;  and  from  San  Francisco  to 
Yokohama,  Japan,  a  little  farther  north,  the  distance  is 
about  forty-five  hundred  miles.  This  last  route  is  along 
one  of  the  great  highroads  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  but  a 
still  shorter  way  can  be  found  by  going  to  Vancouver  or 


ON   A   BIG  OCEAN   STEAMER  1 9 

Prince  Rupert  and  taking  a  Canadian  vessel,  or  by  sailing 
on  one  of  the  big  American  steamers  from  Puget  Sound  to 
Japan.     The  latter  route  is  the  one  we  shall  travel. 

Our  vessel  is  one  of  the  greyhounds  of  the  Pacific.  It 
is  propelled  by  steam,  and  the  distance  is  now  a  matter  of 
hours  rather  than  space.  It  will  take  us  from  ten  to  twelve 
days  to  go  from  North  America  to  Asia,  and  we  shall  be 
quite  as  safe  on  the  boundless  deep  as  in  our  own  house  at 
home. 

The  ship  itself  is  a  wonder.  It  is  one  of  the  palaces  of 
the  ocean,  and  is  made  almost  altogether  of  steel.  It  is 
about  five  hundred  feet  long,  and  more  than  fifty  feet  wide. 
It  is  long  enough  to  stretch  the  whole  length  of  the  aver- 
age city  block ;  and  it  would  fill  the  street  from  side  to 
side.  The  vessel  is  as  high  as  an  eight- story  house,  and  it 
has  as  many  rooms  as  a  large  hotel.  It  has  its  parlors  and 
kitchens,  its  sleeping  rooms  and  bathrooms  ;  and  it  contains 
a  butcher  shop,  a  bakery,  a  carpenter  shop,  and  all  sorts  of 
machinery.  The  dining  room  is  so  large  that  several  hun- 
dred can  sit  down  to  the  tables  at  once,  and  we  find  the 
food  quite  as  good  as  that  we  have  at  home.  Our  waiters 
are  yellow  Chinese  boys  dressed  in  blue  or  white  gowns, 
and  we  order  by  the  numbers  which  are  marked  opposite 
each  dish  on  the  bill  of  fare. 

We  are  delighted  with  our  cabins,  the  little  rooms  which 
form  our  homes  throughout  the  voyage.  Each  room  ac- 
commodates two  of  us,  and  we  sleep  in  two  narrow  beds 
or  bunks  built  against  the  wall  one  over  the  other  much 
like  the  berths  of  a  sleeping  car.  The  room  has  a  sofa  as 
well,  and  also  places  for  washing  and  hooks  for  our  clothes. 
It  has  an  electric  bell,  by  which  we  call  our  Chinese  room 
boy,  and  it  is  lighted  by  electricity. 

The  great  steamer  has  hundreds  of  such  rooms.     They 


20  FROM   AMERICA  TO  JAPAN 

run  from  story  to  story,  down  to  the  lower  decks,  which 
are  filled  with  a  cargo  of  wheat,  flour,  and  other  merchan- 
dise which  we  are  taking  from  the  United  States  to  our 
customers  in  Japan  and  China.  The  whole  interior  of  the 
ship  including  the  machinery  is  incased  in  a  shell  of  steel 
not  much  thicker  than  your  little  finger,  and  it  is  this  alone 
that  keeps  out  the  sea.  It  is  in  this  shell  that  we  are  to 
travel  over  more  than  four  thousand  miles  of  water  without 
once  coming  in  sight  of  land.  We  tremble  a  little  as  we 
think  of  the  dangers,  but  the  captain  says  that  the  loss  of 
life  on  big  ships  is  comparatively  small,  and  that  we  are 
really  much  safer  than  we  should  be  on  land. 

Soon  after  leaving,  we  go  down  below  the  decks  to  see 
the  mighty  machinery  which  is  noiselessly  but  steadily 
forcing  our  great  vessel  on  its  way  through  the  ocean. 
The  engineer  tells  us  that  his  engines  represent  twenty 
thousand  horse-power,  and  that  it  would  take  a  compact 
line  of  two-horse  teams  more  than  twenty  miles  long  all 
pulling  at  once  to  equal  their  force.  He  shows  us  the  fuel 
that  is  daily  required  to  feed  them,  and  says  it  takes 
several  thousand  tons  of  coal  to  make  the  steam  for  each 
voyage.  It  is  a  big  dwelling  house  that  uses  twenty  tons 
of  coal  in  one  year.  Our  steamer  burns  several  hundred 
tons  every  day,  and  enough  in  one  voyage  to  supply  a 
hundred  such  homes  with  fuel  all  the  year  round.  Indeed, 
many  a  large  village  does  not  use  so  much  coal  in  twelve 
months  as  we  shall  consume  in  the  two  weeks  we  are  trav- 
eling. 

We  stay  awhile,  far  down  in  the  hold,  watching  the 
half-naked  Chinese  shoveL'ng  the  coal  into  the  furnaces. 
It  is  hot,  and  the  perspiration  stands  out  on  their  yellow 
skins  as  they  throw  the  black  lumps  into  the  fire.  There 
are  thirty-two  of  them  so  employed,  and  they  are  divided 


ON  A   BIG  OCEAN   STEAMER 


21 


into  gangs  of  eight,  each  laboring  six  hours  at  a  stretch. 
The  shoveHng  goes  on  all  day  and  all  night,  never  stopping 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  voyage. 

Coming  again  upon  deck,  we  find  ourselves  far  out  at 
sea.  There  is  no  land  in  sight,  and  the  captain  tells  us  we 
shall  see  none  for  ten  days,  or  until  we  reach  the  islands 
along  the  east  coast  of  Asia.     We  shudder  at  the  possi- 


The  shoveling  goes  on  all  day  and  all  night." 


bility  of  breaking  down  in  these  watery  wastes  of  the  Pacific, 
where  we  might  float  for  days  and  weeks  without  meeting 
a  steamer ;  and  we  wonder  what  we  should  do  in  case  of  a 
wreck. 

We  feel  a  little  safer  a  few  days  later  when  the  captain 
says  we  are  just  off  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and  that  the 
course  here  is  so  near  the  shores  that  the  passengers  can 
sometimes  hear  the  foxes  bark  as  the  ship  goes  by.  We 
next  approach  the  Kuril  (koo'ril)  Islands,  a  rocky  chain 
belonging  to  Japan,  and  then  turn  to  the  south  and  sail  for 


^       EMPIRE  OF  JAPAN 


SCALE  OF  MILES 

5     100    25o    aSo    ZSo    HSo 

, A.^tPi»!T,w  nor. 


Loni^itude    .^,^0      _ 


THE   ISLAND   EMPIRE  OF  JAPAN  2$ 

several  days  well  out  at  sea  along  the  Japanese  coast. 
The  weather  now  grows  steadily  warmer,  and  it  seems  to 
us  we  can  almost  smell  the  land  of  Japan.  We  go  south- 
ward some  distance  out  from  the  island  of  Yezo,  and 
have  sailed  halfway  down  the  coast  of  the  great  island  of 
Hondo,  when  one  morning  our  Chinese  boy  awakes  us  with 
the  cry  that  land  is  in  sight  and  that  we  shall  soon  be  on 
Asiatic  soil. 

3.   THE   ISLAND   EMPIRE   OF  JAPAN 

JAPAN!  What  a  wonderful  country  it  is!  It  is  the 
island  empire  of  the  Far  East,  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful lands  on  the  other  side  of  the  globe.  Lying  as  it  does 
in  the  deep  waters  of  the  western  Pacific,  the  country  winds 
in  and  out  like  a  snake  from  southwest  to  northeast,  a 
distance  of  more  than  two  thousand  miles.  This  snake  is 
made  up  of  hundreds  of  mountainous  islands,  and  it  drags 
its  length  through  almost  every  climate  known  to  man. 
Its  tail,  formed  by  the  island  of  Formosa,  lies  in  the  warm 
waters  just  above  our  Philippine  Islands,  flapping  as  it  were 
upon  the  Tropic  of  Cancer.  It  thus  makes  Japan  our  next- 
door  neighbor. 

Farther  north  the  snike  sinks  the  lower  part  of  its  trunk 
under  the  waters  of  the  Kuroshiwo  or  Black  Current,  a 
green  island  speck  showing  out  here  and  there,  and  then 
rears  it  up  for  eleven  hundred  miles  in  the  islands  of 
Kiushu  (kyoo'shoo'),  Shikoku  (she'ko-koo),  and  Hondo, 
embracing  every  gradation  of  the  Temperate  Zone.  Its 
gigantic  head  is  Hokkaido  (h5k'ki-do)  or  Yezo.  This  Hes 
in  the  cold  waters  of  the  northern  Pacific,  and  is  shrouded 
in  snow  during  the  long  winter  months  and  at  times  bedded 

CARP.  ASIA  —  2 


24  THE  ISLAND   EMPIRE  OF  JAPAN 

in  ice.  Still  farther  north,  running  out  like  a  horn  from 
one  side  of  the  head,  is  the  lean  Kuril  group  which  almost 
reaches  Kamchatka  in  Russian  Siberia,  and  on  the  other 
side  the  island  of  Sakhalin  (sa-ka-lyen'),  the  northern  half 
of  which  is  still  subject  to  Russia.  Japan  controls  also 
some  of  the  mainland  in  southern  Manchuria,  and  the 
peninsula  of  Korea  now  belongs  to  the  empire. 

The  main  portion  of  this  snake  embracing  the  islands  of 
Hondo,  Shikoku,  and  Kiushu  forms  the  principal  part  of 
Japan.  It  is  the  home  of  most  of  the  people  ;  and  it  con- 
tains all  the  great  cities.  It  is  that  part  of  Japan  which 
has  most  to  do  in  the  work  of  the  world,  and  it  is  there 
that  much  of  our  time  will  be  spent.  The  climate  of  this 
section  is  delightful,  and  the  air  is  so  loaded  with  moisture 
that  even  in  winter  the  land  is  emerald  green.  Now  and 
then  the  snow  falls  on  the  northern  part  of  the  island  of 
Hondo  ;  but  the  green  grass  shows  out  through  the  white, 
and  the  plum  trees  are  in  blossom  in  the  midst  of  our 
winter.  The  country  is  one  of  forests  and  flowers.  The 
people  call  it  the  land  of  the  chrysanthemum,  and  the 
camelia  and  magnolia  grow  wild  upon  its  green  hills.  The 
cherry  tree  is  cultivated  for  its  blossoms,  and  while  it  is 
blooming  the  Japanese  have  picnics  when  old  men  and  old 
women,  young  men  and  maidens,  and  even  the  children 
wander  about  through  the  trees,  and,  inspired  by  the  sight, 
write  verses  of  poetry  which  they  tie  to  the  branches. 

There  is  no  land  in  the  world  which  has  a  greater  variety 
of  beautiful  scenery.  Japan  is  composed  of  mountains 
and  valleys.  It  has  many  small  plains,  and  the  plains  and 
valleys  are  covered  with  farms.  It  has  beautiful  lakes, 
and  numerous  rivers  flow  down  its  green  hills.  Hundreds 
of  waterfalls  give  it  fine  water  power  which  is  now  being 
applied  to  the  running  of  factories. 


THE  ISLAND  EMPIRE  OF  JAPAN 


25 


Many  of  the  mountains  are  lofty,  and  all  are  so  clad  in 
verdure  that  one  can  hardly  believe  that  the  whole  country 


"That  cone  is  Fujiyama,  the  famous  sacred  mountain  of  Japan." 

was  once  made  up  of  volcanoes.  As  we  come  near  the 
coast  on  our  big  ocean  steamer,  the  sight  that  first  meets 
our  eyes  is  a  white  mountain  cone  which  hangs  like  a  silver 
cloud  on  the  western  horizon.  It  increases  in  size  as  we 
come  nearer,  and  a  long  hazy  blue  line  of  coast  shows 
out  below  it  through  a  thin  veil  of  mist.  That  cone  is 
Fujiyama  (foo-je-ya'ma),  the  famous  sacred  mountain  of 
Japan.  It  is  more  than  twice  as  high  as  Mount  Wash- 
ington, and  during  the  greater  part  of  the  year  is  covered 
with  snow.  Fujiyama  is  an  extinct  volcano,  and  it  may 
some  day  again  burst  forth.  As  we  come  nearer  still,  we 
can  see  the  vapor  arising  from  another  volcano  on  an  island 


26  THE  ISLAND   EMPIRE  OF  JAPAN 

farther  off  to  the  south,  and  we  are  told  that  we  shall  be 
traveling  in  and  out  among  volcanic  islands  as  long  as  we 
stay  in  Japan.  The  country  has  about  fifty  steaming  vol- 
canoes, and  there  are  other  mountains  which  although 
now  quiet  may  at  any  time  break  into  eruption.  The 
islands  contain  more  than  one  thousand  hot  springs,  where 
the  people  enjoy  steam  baths  given  by  nature. 

A  land  like  this  is  sure  to  have  earthquakes,  and  Japan 
has  so  many  that  its  capital,  the  city  of  Tokyo  (to'ke-o),  is 
said  to  feel  one  or  more  shocks  every  day  of  the  year.  In 
the  past  the  people  believed  that  the  trembling  of  the  earth 
was  caused  by  a  gigantic  fish  which  lived  in  the  sea  and 
now  and  then  bumped  its  nose  or  struck  its  tail  against  the 
shores  in  its  anger.  To-day  the  Japanese  have  as  correct 
a  scientific  knowledge  of  earthquakes  as  any  other  people. 
Connected  with  the  Imperial  University  is  a  professor  of 
earthquakes,  and  we  can  find  out  more  about  such  things 
here  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world. 

Indeed,  it  is  quite  likely  that  we  may  feel  an  earth- 
quake during  our  tour,  and  if  it  should  be  a  serious  one,  I 
am  sure  we  shall  never  wish  for  another.  One  happened 
about  two  centuries  ago  which  destroyed  the  Japanese 
capital,  and  in  which  two  hundred  thousand  people  lost 
their  lives.  The  same  city  had  a  terrible  earthquake  in 
1855,  during  which  sixteen  thousand  houses  were  thrown 
down  and  many  people  were  killed. 

It  was  in  1894  that  I  narrowly  escaped  death  in  a  great 
earthquake  in  Tokyo.  At  that  time  the  ground  rose  and 
fell  like  the  waves  of  the  sea.  It  cracked  open  in  many 
places,  and  some  of  the  buildings  connected  with  the 
palaces  of  the  Emperor  were  thrown  down.  The  Parlia- 
ment Houses  were  damaged,  the  home  of  the  United 
States  Minister  was  almost  wrecked,  and  several  foreign 


THE  ISLAND   EMPIRE  OF  JAPAN  2/ 

buildings  were  entirely  destroyed.  When  the  first  shock 
came,  I  was  sitting  in  a  room  on  the  second  floor  of  a  large 
office  structure,  belonging  to  the  government,  talking  with 
one  of  the  officials.  All  at  once  the  walls  began  to  move 
and  the  floor  trembled  under  my  feet.  At  the  same  time 
the  clerks  began  to  run  through  the  halls,  and  my  Japa- 
nese friend  cried  out :  — 


"  It  cracked  open  in  many  places  —  " 

"  It  is  an  earthquake  !  Come,  we  must  run  !  '* 
We  did  so,  only  to  see  the  greater  part  of  the  building 
fall  to  the  ground  immediately  after  we  had  left  it.  Since 
then  I  have  visited  Japan  several  times,  and  have  felt 
many  slight  shocks,  but  none  which  has  caused  any  great 
damage  or  loss  of  life. 

One  of  the  most  important  features  of  Japan  is  its  nu- 
merous fine  harbors.     The  chief  farms  and  factories  are 


28  THE  ISLAND   EMPIRE  OF  JAPAN 

nowhere  far  from  the  sea,  and  the  people  can  send  their 
products  cheaply  to  market.  Almost  every  island  has 
beautiful  bays,  and  west  of  Kobe  (ko'be)  is  the  Inland 
Sea,  a  long,  narrow  strip  of  the  ocean  almost  shut  in  by 
islands,  abounding  in  inlets  and  harbors  in  which  the 
water  is  quiet  all  the  year  round.  These  excellent  har- 
bors have  aided  in  making  the  people  a  seafaring  nation, 
and  we  shall  learn  that  their  ships  now  go  to  all  parts 
of  the  world. 

Another  interesting  feature  is  the  great  ocean  currents 
which  wash  the  shores  of  the  islands,  tempering  their 
climate  at  all  times  of  the  year.  One  of  these  is  the 
Kuroshiwo,  or  the  Black  Current,  whose  waters  in  fine 
weather  are  of  an  indigo  blue  and  ashy  pale  on  cloudy 
days.  The  Kuroshiwo  might  be  called  the  Gulf  Stream  of 
the  Pacific.  It  is  warm,  and  it  acts  as  a  hot-water  plant  to 
increase  the  heat  of  the  eastern  side  of  the  islands  along 
which  it  flows.  At  the  same  time  the  western  shores 
are  made  cooler  by  cold  ocean  currents  flowing  down  from 
Siberia.  These  currents  bring  vast  numbers  pf  fish  into  the 
Japanese  waters,  giving  employment  to  several  millions  of 
fishermen,  who  use  more  than  four  hundred  thousand  boats 
in  the  work.  The  fish  are  delicious,  and  we  shall  eat  them 
in  our  travels  all  over  Japan. 

But  let  us  take  a  little  closer  view  of  the  islands  which 
compose  the  Japanese  Empire.  Some  of  them  are  mere 
rocks  jutting  out  of  the  ocean,  and  many  are  no  bigger 
than  a  good-sized  farm.  There  are  others  as  large  as  some 
of  the  states  of  our  Union,  and  all  together  they  com- 
prise enough  territory  to  support  many  millions.  The 
total  area  of  Japan  is  far  greater  than  that  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Italy,  and  it  is  more  than  half  again  as  large  as  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland.     If  all  the  land  of  the  world  could  be 


THE  ISLAND   EMPIRE  OF  JAPAN 


29 


collected  together  and  divided  into  three  hundred  and 
twenty-five  fields,  that  belonging  to  Japan  would  be  more 
than  enough  to  cover  one  of  them.  The  five  largest  islands 
running  from  Formosa  to  Yezo  contain  most  of  the  land. 
Formosa  is  about  twice  the  size  of  the  state  of  New  Jersey, 
Shikoku  and  Kiushu  taken  together  equal  the  state  of 
West  Virginia,  Yezo  is  as  big  as  Indiana,  and  Hondo  is  as 


The  Ainos  live  in  rude  huts  — 


large  as  New  York  and  Ohio  combined.  In  addition,  on 
the  mainland  of  Asia  is  Korea,  which  is  about  twice  the 
size  of  Ohio. 

As  to  Yezo  and  Formosa  they  are  to  the  rest  of  the 
empire  as  our  partially  settled  territories  are  to  the  most 
populous  states  of  the  Union.  Yezo  might  be  called  the 
Japanese  Alaska,  and  it  has,  among  its  population  of  more 
than  a  million,  a  few  natives,  called  Ainos,  who  are  not 
much  more  civilized  than  our  Eskimos.  They  live  in  rude 
huts  and  have  so  much  hair  that  they  have  been  nick- 


30  THE  ISLAND   EMPIRE  OF  JAPAN 

named  the  hairy  men  of  Japan.  Formosa,  which  was 
gained  by  war  from  China,  has  many  savages  who  live  in 
the  mountains.  Some  of  them  are  head-hunters,  of  whom 
but  Httle  is  known.  Formosa  has  also  many  Chinese.  It 
produces  a  vast  deal  of  rice,  camphor,  and  tea. 

Japan  proper  has  all  together  more  than  fifty  million 
people,  and  with  Korea  and  Formosa  over  sixty-five 
millions.  The  great  majority  of  them  are  on  the  island 
of  Hondo,  which  is  so  large  that  the  people  speak  of  it  as 
the  mainland.  It  forms  the  heart  of  Japan,  and  contains 
Tokyo,  the  capital,  where  Parliament  meets  and  where  the 
Emperor  lives. 

It  is  upon  Hondo  that  have  taken  place  the  chief 
events  of  Japanese  history.  It  has  been  the  residence  of 
the  emperors  since  the  days  of  Jimmu  Tenno,  who  lived 
six  hundred  and  sixty  years  before  Christ,  and  it  was  the 
seat  of  the  great  revolution  of  a  half  century  or  so  ago  by 
which  Japan  came  out  of  her  seclusion  and  made  herself 
one  of  the  great  powers  of  the  modern  world.  It  was  of 
this  island  that  Marco  Polo  wrote  when  he  returned  from 
China  bringing  his  stories  of  Cipango,  an  island  off  the 
coast  of  East  Asia  which  was  loaded  with  gold,  and  it  was 
this  land  that  Christopher  Columbus  hoped  to  reach  first 
when  he  started  out  on  his  new  route  to  China  and 
discovered  America.  We  shall  look  in  vain  for  Japanese 
gold,  although  Marco  Polo  said  that  the  very  dogs  of  the 
country  wore  golden  collars  and  that  "  the  roofs  and  floors 
of  the  Emperor's  Palace  were  entirely  of  gold,  the  latter 
being  made  in  plates,  like  slabs  of  stone,  a  good  two 
fingers  thick." 

The  islands  of  Japan  have  very  little  gold,  although  they 
produce  iron,  copper,  and  silver,  and  have  large  deposits  of 
petroleum  and  coal.     Some  of  the  coal  mines  extend  far 


YOKOHAMA  3 1 

out  under  the  sea,  and  there  is  one  such  mine,  in  the 
western  part  of  the  empire,  which  has  more  than  fifty  miles 
of  tunnels  all  under  the  ocean,  some  of  them  lying  sixteen 
hundred  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  water. 

— — oo5*<o« 


4.     YOKOHAMA,   A  JAPANESE  SEAPORT 

IT  is  at  the  island  of  Hondo  that  we  come  to  anchor  at 
the  close  of  our  voyage.  We  have  left  the  open  sea, 
and  entered  the  great  Bay  of  Tokyo,  and  are  now  lying 
inside  the  breakwaters  in  the  harbor  of  Yokohama  sur- 
rounded by  shipping  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  There 
are  steamers  from  China,  Formosa,  and  Siberia  lying 
at  anchor.  There  are  great  German  ships  which  have 
made  the  voyage  from  Hamburg  by  the  Mediterranean 
Sea  and  the  Suez  Canal.  There  are  English  vessels  from 
Southampton  and  Liverpool,  French  steamers  from  Mar- 
seilles, and  craft  of  various  kinds  from  Australia,  South 
America,  and  the  United  States.  There  are  English, 
German,  and  American  men-of-war,  belonging  to  the 
squadrons  which  these  nations  keep  in  this  part  of  the 
world  ;  and  many  queer-looking  native  boats  or  junks  with 
sails  ribbed  with  bamboo  poles  from  different  parts  of 
Japan.  There  are  also  Japanese  steamers  coming  in  and 
going  out,  as  well  as  fishing  craft  and  freight  boats  of  all 
kinds.  There  are  steam  launches  from  the  hotels,  which 
have  gathered  round  our  ship ;  and  many  little  passenger 
boats  called  sampans  paddled  by  brown-skinned  men  who 
motion  us  to  jump  in  and  ride  to  the  shore. 

We   wait   until   the   health  officers  have  finished  their 
examination   to   see   that   none  of  us   has  any  infectious 


32 


.    JAPAN 


disease,  and  then  give  over  our  baggage  to  the  little  brown 
men  in  the  sampans.  They  stow  it  away  and  lend  us  a 
hand  as  we  step  into  their  boats.  It  is  but  a  short  trip  to 
the  wharves ;  and  within  a  few  moments  we  are  at  the 
customhouse,  where  clerks  in  uniform  examine  our  trunks, 
looking  for  opium  and  goods  to  be  taxed. 

Leaving  the  customhouse,  our  first  sight  is  a  crowd  of 
jinrikisha  men  waiting  to  be  hired.  They  are  lusty  brown 
fellows  dressed  in  loose-fitting  shirts  and  short  tights  of 

blue  cotton.     They  wear 
1^-  .  stiff  round  hats  covered 

with  blue  and  of  the  size 
and  shape  of  a  butter 
bowl  turned  upside  down. 
Their  legs  are  bare  to  the 
thighs,  save  for  the  straw 
sandals  held  on  to  their 
stockingless  feet  by  straw 
ropes  across  the  insteps 
and  toes.  Each  man 
stands  by  his  jinrikisha 
and  motions  us  to  get  in, 
pointing  to  his  stout  legs 
as  he  does  so  as  though 
to  say  he  can  go  very 
fast. 

As  we  take  our  seats 
we  see  other  jinrikishas 
dart  by  us  filled  with  all  sorts  of  people.  Some  are  occupied 
by  ladies  and  gentlemen,  others  by  children  going  to  school, 
and  some  by  business  men  on  the  way  to  their  offices. 
The  jinrikisha  is  the  cab  of  Japan.  It  is  like  an  old-fash- 
ioned baby,  carriage  with  two  wheels  as  large  as  those  at 


"  —  other  jinrikishas  dart  by  us  —  " 


YOKOHAMA  33 

the  front  of  an  American  buggy.  It  has  a  pair  of  shafts 
just  wide  enough  for  a  man  to  stand  between  them  ;  and  it 
is  usually  pulled  by  one  man,  although  he  is  sometimes 
aided  by  another  who  pushes  behind.  Some  of  the  best 
runners  can  drag  a  jinrikisha  carrying  one  passenger  eight 
miles  an  hour,  and  many  will  travel  almost  as  fast  as  a 
horse.  We  pay  ten  Japanese  sen  or  about  five  cents  of 
our  money  a  trip.  The  rate  for  an  hour  is  ten  cents,  and 
we  can  drive  our  human  steed  all  day  long  for  one  dollar. 

It  is  in  jinrikishas  that  we  explore  Yokohama.  We  ride 
around  The  Bund,  the  wide  road  which  skirts  the  sea,  be- 
hind which  are  the  principal  exporting  houses,  clubs,  and 
hotels.  We  are  then  pulled  through  the  streets  which  lie 
farther 'back,  and  take  short  tours  out  into  the  country, 
passing  by  miles  of  queerly  shaped  houses,  many  of  which 
have  windows  and  walls  of  white  paper.  We  spend  some 
time  in  the  stores,  go  to  the  post  office  for  our  mail,  and 
then  come  back  to  the  hotel  for  the  night. 

Yokohama  is  now  one  of  the  great  ports  of  the  world. 
Its  population  is  already  about  as  large  as  that  of  the  city 
of  Buffalo,  and  it  grows  very  fast.  The  place  is  especially 
interesting  to  us  because  it  marks  the  beginning  of  our 
relations  with  the  Japanese  people  and  also  the  opening  of 
Japan  to  the  trade  of  the  world.  This  event  occurred  about 
the  middle  of  the  last  century,  when  Yokohama  was  but  a 
small  fishing  village.  It  was  at  that  time  that  our  Com- 
modore Perry  landed  here  and  made  the  first  treaty  be- 
tween Japan  and  the  United  States.  Before  that  the 
Japanese  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  foreigners.  They 
refused  to  allow  them  to  come  into  their  country.  They 
knew  but  little  about  us  and  our  civilization,  and  did  not 
care  to  trade  or  associate  with  the  rest  of  the  world. 

When  Commodore  Perry  showed  them  the  presents  he 


34  JAPAN 

had  brought  from  America  to  give  to  the  Emperor,  they 
were  greatly  surprised ;  and  this  was  especially  so  when 
they  saw  some  telegraphic  instruments,  and  a  toy  railroad 
train.  The  Japanese  had  not  heard  of  such  things,  and  it 
was  hard  to  make  them  believe  that  they  were  of  practical 
use.  They  opened  their  eyes  wide  when  they  saw  that  mes- 
sages in  their  language  could  be  sent  over  the  wires  quite  as 
readily  as  in  English.  They  were  anxious  to  ride  upon 
the  toy  train,  and  in  order  to  show  how  it  worked.  Com- 
modore Perry  and  his  men  laid  a  circular  track  outside 
Yokohama,  and  the  little  cars  were  run  around  this,  carry- 
ing a  few  passengers  each  trip.  The  cars  were  so  small 
that  the  Japanese  could  not  get  inside  them,  but  they 
climbed  upon  the  roofs  and  held  on  tight,  their  gowns  flap- 
ping in  the  breeze  as  the  tiny  steam  engine  carried  them 
flying  around  the  track.  To-day  Japan  has  more  railroads 
in  proportion  to  its  size  than  any  other  part  of  Asia. 
It  has  trunk  lines  connecting  all  its  chief  cities,  and  electric 
cars  in  the  principal  towns.  The  country  has  thousands  of 
telegraph  offices,  and  its  people  send  telegrams  by  the  tens 
of  millions  a  year.  Both  the  telegraph  and  railway  sys- 
tems belong  to  the  government ;  and  we  are  told  that  they 
are  well  built,  and  well  managed,  and  are  run  at  a  profit. 

When  Commodore  Perry  landed,  Japan  was  doing  almost 
no  business  with  the  rest  of  the  world.  It  was  secluded, 
and  its  people  were  backward  in  all  branches  of  modern 
civilization.  To-day  Japan  is  one  of  the  chief  exporting 
and  importing  nations.  Its  commerce  amounts  to  many 
hundred  miUion  dollars  a  year,  and  several  thousand 
foreign  vessels  ann;ially  enter  its  harbors  to  bring  in  or 
take  away' goods.  The  empire  has  some  of  the  best  of 
modern  steamers,  and  Japanese  ships  start  out  every  week 
for  China,  India,   and   Europe,  and  eastward  across  the 


TOKYO  35 

Pacific  Ocean  to  us.  It  has  vessels  going  to  Manchuria 
and  Siberia,  regular  lines  to  Korea  and  Formosa,  and  also 
some  to  Australia  which  stop  at  the  Philippines  on  the  way. 
It  has  large  fleets  of  steamers  and  sailing  vessels  and 
more  than  twenty  thousand  junks  and  other  native  sailing 
craft.  From  being  the  most  secluded  of  nations,  Japan  has 
become  one  of  the  most  open  and  hospitable.  It  now  wel- 
comes all  strangers  and  trades  with  all  parts  of  the  world. 
Its  people  are  noted  for  their  courtesy  and  refinement. 
They  are  active  and  progressive,  and  are  esteemed  by  all 
as  a  very  great  nation. 


-t>>»Co« 


5.    TOKYO,   THE   CAPITAL   OF  JAPAN 

IT  is  about  a  half  hour  by  train  from  Yokohama  to 
Tokyo.  The  two  cities  are  only  eighteen  miles  apart, 
and  the  sea  is  in  sight  almost  all  the  way.  We  are  carried 
through  green  fields  spotted  with  blue-gowned,  big-hatted 
men  and  women,  half  doubled  over,  weeding  the  crops. 
We  pass  numerous  orchards  of  pear  and  plum  trees,  the 
branches  of  which  are  so  trained  upon  framework  that  they 
form  green  roofs  shading  the  ground ;  and  go  by  village 
after  village  of  thatched  houses  with  smoke  coming  out  at 
the  ends  of  their  roofs.  We  see  some  large  factories  on 
the  outskirts  of  Tokyo,  then  shoot  through  a  maze  of  dark- 
colored  houses,  and  finally  land  in  Shimbashi,  one  of  the 
busiest  parts  of  the  Japanese  capital. 

Leaving  the  cars,  we  make  our  way  with  the  clattering 
throng  to  the  doors  of  the  station.  There  are  hundreds  of 
passengers,  many  of  whom  wear  wooden  sandals,  which 
clap  on  the  stone  floors  as  they  walk.     All  are  polite,  and 


36  JAPAN 

they  bow  again  and  again  almost  to  the  ground  upon 
meeting  their  friends. 

Outside  the  station  hundreds  of  jinrikishas  are  waiting. 
Their  blue-coated,  bare-legged  owners  stand  in  the  shafts, 
and  an  official  at  the  door  hands  us  a  cheek  bearing  the 
numbers  of  the  men  we  may  call.  At  the  same  time  he 
motions  to  certain  of  them,  who  trot  up  and  offer  their  cabs. 
We  fix  the  price  per  hour  for  the  service,  and  upon  taking 
our  seats  tell  the  human  steeds  that  we  want  to  see  the 
whole  city,  and  ask  how  long  it  will  take.  They  reply  that 
such  a  ride  would  consume  several  days,  at  the  least. 
Tokyo  is  one  of  the  great  cities  of  the  world.  It  contains 
more  than  two  millions  of  people,  and  its  area  is  many 
square  miles.  It  would  require  all  morning  to  walk  from 
one  side  of  it  to  the  other,  and  if  we  took  horses  we  should 
need  at  least  a  day  to  go  around  it. 

Our  guide  suggests  that  we  take  a  view  of  the  city  from 
one  of  the  watch  towers  upon  which  men  stand  day  and 
night  to  look  out  for  fires.  There  are  many  such  scattered 
throughout  Tokyo,  and  they  rise  so  far  above  the  rest  of 
the  buildings  that  from  their  tops  we  can  see  the  whole 
city.  We  stop  at  one  near  the  station  and  climb  up.  We 
are  high  in  the  air,  with  the  Japanese  capital  spread  out 
below  us.  At  the  south  is  the  blue  Tokyo  Bay,  with  many 
white  sailing  ships  floating  upon  it,  and  at  the  north  and 
east  we  can  look  beyond  the  city  to  the  green  fields  and 
trees  of  the  country. 

The  town  which  lies  under  us  is  like  nothing  we  have  in 
America.  There  are  no  tall,  ungainly  structures  as  in  New 
York  and  Chicago,  and  no  ragged  streets  with  buildings  of 
all  shapes  and  sizes  jumbled  together  with  vacant  lots 
showing  out  here  and  there.  In  the  chief  business  center 
and  about  the  Imperial  Park  are  some  foreign  structures, 


TOKYO 


37 


but  most  of  the  city  is  a  level  of  one-story  and  two-story 
houses  with  many  great  temples  rising  out  of  green  parks. 


We  take  a  view  of  the  city  from  one  of  the  watch  towers. 


The  houses  are  built  along  the  edges  of  streets  without 
sidewalks.  They  are  roofed  with  black  tiles  and  have  walls 
of  unpainted  wood  turned  gray  by  the  weather,  marking 
the  streets  with  long  lines  of  black  and  gray.  Beginning 
at  the  bay,  they  run  far  back  into  the  country.  They  bor- 
der both  sides  of  the  Sumida  (soo'me-da)  River,  which 
here  flows  into  the  sea,  and  are  inclosed  in  a  network  of 
canals,  upon  which  junks  and  native  craft  of  all  kinds 
move  to  and  fro. 

Notice  the  trees,  the  lakes,  and  the  silvery  waterways ! 
Did  you  ever  see  anything  more  beautiful !  There  are  trees 
everywhere,  and  here  and  there  are  wide,  open  places  such 


38  JAPAN 

as  the  parade  grounds  of  the  soldiers  and  the  great  parks 
surrounding  the  temples  where  the  people  come  to  worship 
according  to  their  religion,  of  which  we  shall  learn  more 
farther  on.  That  forest  at  the  east  with  the  twelve-storied 
tower  rising  above  it  is  Ueno  Park,  noted  for  its  many 
cherry  trees  whose  blossoms  in  spring  seem  to  fill  the 
air  with  pink  clouds.  In  it  is  the  zoological  garden,  and 
near  by  are  the  University  and  other  large  schools. 

On  the  western  side  of  the  city  we  can  see  Shiba  Park, 
where  are  several  grand  temples,  and  right  in  the  center 
is  the  vast  expanse  of  ground,  beautifully  rolling,  in  which 
the  palaces  of  the  Emperor  stand.  These  grounds  are 
surrounded  by  three  wide  moats  or  ditches,  walled  with 
stone.  They  are  filled  with  water,  and  crossed  by  great 
bridges  guarded  by  soldiers.  Between  the  two  outside 
moats  are  many  fine  modern  structures  of  brick  and  stone, 
not  unlike  the  public  buildings  of  our  National  Capital. 
They  are  occupied  by  His  Majesty's  Cabinet,  and 
contain  much  of  the  machinery  by  which  the  empire  is 
governed. 

But  let  us  climb  down  from  the  watch  tower  and  take  a 
jinrikisha  ride  through  the  streets.  Our  men  will  go  as 
slow  or  as  fast  as  we  please,  and  we  can  stop  them  at  the 
interesting  places  and  get  out  and  walk.  How  queer  it  all 
is !  Except  on  the  Ginza,  which  is  the  chief  business  street, 
and  in  a  few  other  places  where  foreign  blocks  have  been 
erected,  the  buildings  are  more  like  the  bazaars  of  a  fair 
than  the  substantial  structures  of  an  American  city.  There 
are  but  few  large  houses  and  only  now  and  then  one  which 
has  more  than  two  stories.  The  heavy  ridge  roofs  extend 
far  out  over  the  walls,  and  the  floors  are  high  up  from  the 
ground.  The  outer  walls  are  made  in  sections  which  slide 
in  grooves  back  and  forth.     They  are  pushed  aside  during 


TOKYO 


Fruits  and  Vegetables. 


40  JAPAN 

the  daytime,  and  we  can  see  all  that  goes  on  within.  We 
look  in  vain  for  windows  and  doors.  The  rooms  are  di- 
vided by  walls  of  latticework  backed  with  white  paper, 
through  which  the  light  comes.  These  walls  are  also  in 
sections  which  move  in  grooves  one  inside  the  other.  In 
going  from  one  room  to  another,  we  push  aside  a  section 
of  the  wall  instead  of  opening  a  door,  and  we  can  throw 
several  rooms  into  one. 

The  Japanese  are  naturally  modest,  but  their  ideas  of 
propriety  are  different  from  ours,  and  we  observe  strange 
scenes  of  family  life  as  we  ride  through  the  streets.  Here 
a  slant-eyed  maiden  is  making  her  toilet.  She  has  pushed 
back  the  wall  of  her  home,  and  we  can  see  her  as  she  sits 
on  her  heels  on  the  floor  before  a  little  round  mirror  and 
primps  and  powders  and  paints  her  lips  red,  while  the  people 
go  by  without  noticing  anything  strange  in  her  actions. 
Next  door  is  a  family  eating  dinner.  They  sit  or  kneel  on 
the  floor,  and  each  has  his  own  table  of  the  size  and  height 
of  the  box  of  a  bootblack. 

A  little  farther  on  we  stop  at  a  store.  The  merchant 
sits  flat  on  the  floor  with  his  goods  piled  around  him,  and 
the  floor  is  his  counter.  We  sit  there  as  we  shop,  hanging 
our  feet  out  into  the  street.  As  we  do  so,  the  wall  at  the 
back  is  moved  wide  apart,  and  the  merchant's  family 
comes  out  to  see  what  we  buy.  The  little  boys  have 
almond  eyes  and  short  hair  and  the  girls  slant  eyes  and 
long  hair  done  up  just  like  their  mothers.  Now  our 
shopping  is  finished,  and  we  ask  the  cost  of  the  goods  we 
have  purchased.  The  amounts  are  handed  to  one  of  the 
boys,  who  figures  up  the  sum  upon  a  box  of  wooden  but- 
tons strung  upon  wires.  By  moving  these  back  and  forth 
he  can  add  and  subtract  as  quickly  as  we  can  with  pencil 
and  paper,  and  we  find  the  boy's  figures  correct. 


TOKYO 


41 


But  let  us  turn  from  the  shops  to  the  people.     The 
streets  are  not  narrow,  and  we  are  not  jostled  as  we  move 


A  Dry-goods  Store. 


through  the  crowd.  The  hundreds  of  queer-looking  men, 
women,  and  children  who  pass  us  are  the  soul  of  good  na- 
ture, and  they  treat  us  as  brothers.  They  smile  and  bend 
low  as  they  meet  one  another,  and  when  we  stop  at  their 
stores  or  enter  their  houses,  they  bow  again  and  again  al- 
most to  the  ground.  We  try  to  be  polite  in  return,  but 
the  Japanese  back  is  more  elastic  than  ours.  We  soon 
grow  stiff  with  the  unusual  motion,  and  feel  that  even  the 
India-rubber  man  of  the  circus  might  wear  himself  out 
with  bowing  in  a  tour  through  Japan. 

Clatter,  clatter,  clatter !     What  a  noise  the  people  make 

CARP.  ASIA  —  3  , 


42 


JAPAN 


as  they  go  along  the  street !  They  wear  curious  sandals, 
of  wood  or  straw,  and  their  stockings  are  foot  mittens,  in 
which  the  big  toe  has  a  separate  place.  During  wet 
weather  the  sandals  worn  have  blocks  on  the  bottom  about 
three  inches  high,  so  that  the  whole  nation  becomes  that 
much  taller  whenever  it  rains.  At  such  times  the  girls 
pull  their  gowns  up  to  their  knees,  and  the  boys  tuck  theirs 
under  their  belts,  to  keep  them  from  being  spattered  with 
mud.  All  the  people  carry  umbrellas  which  cover  the 
upper  parts  of  the  body,  and  the  streets  are  filled  with  bare 
yellow  legs  raised  upon  stilts  which  seem  to  be  carrying 
queer-looking  bundles. 

The  Japanese  dress  is  peculiar.     Both  men  and  women 
have  on  long,  flowing  gowns  extending  from  their  necks  to 

their  feet.  These  are 
folded  across  the  body  in 
front  and  fastened  at  the 
waist  with  a  sash.  The 
chief  difference  in  the 
dress  of  the  sexes  lies  in 
the  sash,  that  of  the 
man  being  little  more 
than  a  belt,  while  that 
of  the  woman  is  more 
than  half  a  yard  wide 
and  so  long  that  it  can 
be  wrapped  several  times 
around  the  waist  and  tied 
in  a  great  bow  at  the 
back.  The  sash  is  often  of  the  finest  of  silk,  and  is  the 
most  expensive  part  of  the  costume.  The  gowns  of  both 
men  and  women  are  open  at  the  front,  being  folded  across 
the  person  and  held  together  by  the  sash.     Girls  are  taught 


figures  up  the  sum  ■ 


TOKYO 


43 


to  walk  so  as  not  to  pull  their  dresses  apart.  They  take 
short  steps  and  turn  their  toes  inward.  One  odd  feature 
of  the  dress  is  the  sleeve.  This  is  made  very  full  and 
sewed  up  at  the  wrist  so  that  it  can  be  used  as  a  pocket. 
The  colors  of  the  clothing  are  exceedingly  modest.  Most 
of  the  people  wear  blacks,  blues,  and  grays,  and  it  is  only 
the  very  little  children  who  have  on  the  bright,  gaudy  hues 
which  many  suppose  to  be  most  liked  in  Japan. 

How  busy  every  one  is !  As  we  go  through  the  streets 
we  observe  that  the  stores  and  houses  are  filled  with  workers. 
There  are  crowds  at  the  shops  buying  goods,  and  peddlers 
by  hundreds  hawking  their  wares.     There  are  porters  by 


A  Shoe  Store. 


scores  with  great  loads  on  their  backs,  and  servants  carry- 
ing baskets  fastened  by  strings  or  ropes  to  the  ends  of  a 
pole  which  rests  on  the  shoulder. 

We  see  children  in  groups  playing  about  everywhere. 


44 


JAPAN 


Many  of  the  little  ones  are  at  work,  and  in  some  sections 
every  house  contains  an  industry  of  one  kind  or  another 

in  which  the  children  do 
much  of  the  labor.  There 
are  also  many  on  their 
way  to  and  from  school, 
and  of  these  we  shall 
learn  more  farther  on  in 
our  travels. 

We  pass  many  people 
going  to  the  theaters,  the 
plays  of  which  last  from 
morning  till  night,  and 
meetfamilygroupsbound 
for  the  temples,  each  per- 
son carrying  his  lunch 
that  they  may  have  a  pic- 
nic in  the  groves  after 
their  prayers.  Jinriki- 
shas  pass  by  us  carrying 
statesmen  to  the  Houses 
of  Parliament,  and  other  jinrikishas  are  seen  here  and  there 
in  which  are  bare-headed  ladies  who  are  going  out  calling 
or  taking  the  air. 

There  are  but  few  horses  and  carriages  and  very  few 
automobiles.  The  street  cars  are  everywhere,  and  the 
electric  roads  will  take  one  to  any  part  of  the  city  at  a 
much  lower  fare  than  those  of  our  country.  We  observe 
that  the  people  use  the  cars  freely,  and  also  that  modern 
machinery  is  doing  away  with  hand  labor  in  many  of  the 
shops. 

Nevertheless,  we  are  impressed  with  the  fact  that  human 
muscle  is  still  performing  a  large  part  of  the  work  of  Japan. 


Girls  in  Summer  Dress. 


TOKYO 


4$ 


Observe  that  little  post-office  wagon  which  is  carrying  the 
mail   from   one  side  of  the  town  to  the 
other.     It  is  pulled  by  a  man  who  wears  a 
blue  jacket  and  tights.     The  dray  behind 
it  belongs  to  one  of  the  big  wholesale  es- 
tablishments, and  it  is  taking  a  load  of 
goods  to  the  train.     The  motive  power 
consists  of  those  two  almond-eyed  men 
who  are  harnessed  in  front  and  of  others 
who  are  shoving  behind  with  both  heads 
and  hands.     Their  muscles  stand  out  like 
thick  cords  as  they  work,  and  the  sweat 
is  rolling  down  their  brown  skins  in  diamond-white  streams. 
As  we  go  through  the  side  streets  we  see  that  they  are 
still  watered  by  hand,  each  householder  being  required  to 


Porter  with  Lumber. 


•*  —  taking  a  load  of  goods  to  the  train." 


46  JAPAN 

lay  the  dust  in  front  of  his  dwelling,  and  we  observe  others 
of  the  old  customs,  which  our  civilization  is  fast  crowding 
out.  The  stores  of  the  main  business  sections  are  chang- 
ing. They  now  have  counters  like  ours  and  sliding  glass 
windows.  There  are  some  large  department  stores,  with 
concerts  and  shows  to  attract  customers.  Tokyo  has  an 
excellent  telephone  service,  and  there  are  telegraph  lines 
through  all  parts  of  the  town.  At  night  the  main  streets 
are  lighted  by  electricity.  We  meet  newsboys  on  every 
corner,  and  soon  realize  that  the  Japanese  capital  has  be- 
come a  modern  city  very  different  from  that  which  stood 
here  in  the  days  of  Commodore  Perry.  It  is  now  one  of 
the  world's  greatest  capitals,  with  most  of  the  modern  im- 
provements of  New  York,  Paris,  or  London. 

6.     HOME   LIFE   IN   JAPAN 

THE  best  place  to  study  a  people  is  in  their  own  homes, 
and  we  can  learn  much  by  spending  a  night  in  a 
Japanese  house.  These  people  live  simply,  and  although 
there  is  some  difference  in  the  comforts  of  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  the  home  of  the  well-to-do  family  which  we  shall 
visit  to-day  will  serve  as  a  type  for  that  of  Japan. 

We  take  jinrikishas  and  soon  reach  our  friend's  dwelling. 
It  is  an  unpainted  frame  building  of  two  stories,  with  a 
heavy  roof  of  black  earthenware  tiles  supported  by  gray 
wooden  posts  which  rest  upon  stones.  We  can  see  clear 
through  the  house  and  get  a  glimpse  of  the  beautiful  garden 
lying  behind.  The  outer  walls  have  been  pushed  back  for 
the  day,  and  the  air  rushes  through  on  all  sides. 

We  see  almost  the  whole  house  before  we  leave  our 
jinrikishas  and  wonder  at  first  if  the  family  has  not  moved 


These  people  live  simply." 


We  can  see  clear  through  the  house." 


(47) 


48  JAPAN 

away.  The  rooms  are  all  bare  and  there  is  nothing  like 
our  American  furniture  in  sight.  Where  are  the  tables  ? 
There  are  none,  for  the  Japanese  do  not  use  tables  like  ours. 
Where  are  the  chairs  ?  Those  cushions  which  lie  on  the 
mats  take  their  places,  for  these  people  prefer  to  sit  on  the 
floor. 

How  clean  everything  is !  The  road  at  the  front  is  well 
swept.  We  can  see  ourselves  in  the  strip  of  bare  boards 
which  runs  round  the  inner  walls  of  the  house  like  a  porch, 
and  the  rooms  back  of  this  are  covered  with  matting  of  the 

cleanest  white  straw. 
This  matting  forms  the 
carpet  of  Japan.  It  is 
not  woven  in  strips  like 
that  sent  to  America, 
but  in   soft  mats  three 

Hibachi.  ^^^*  wi^^'  si^  ^^^^  l^^g' 

and  twice   as   thick   as 

this  book.     Each  mat  is  bound  around  the  edges  with  black 

cloth,  and  when  all   are   fitted  closely  together  over  the 

room,  the  floor  is  covered  with  panels  of  white  bordered 

with  black.     The  mats  are  the  same  everywhere,  and  the 

size  of  the  room  is  known,  not  as  so  many  feet  wide  and  so 

many  feet  long,  but  by  the  number  of  mats  required  for 

the  floor. 

How  is  the  house  heated  ?     There  are  no  stoves  in  sight, 

and  no  cellar  or  basement  in  which  a  furnace  might  be 

hidden.     The  house  has  no  chimney,  and  we  see  no  signs 

of  stovepipes.     The  heating  is  done  by  little  brass-lined 

boxes  filled  with  ashes,  in  the  center  of  which  a  handful  of 

charcoal  is  burning.     These  boxes  are  known  as  hibachis. 

They  are  common  all  over   Japan.     They    form   a  poor 

means  of  heating;    and,  as  winter  comes  on,  the  people 


HOME   LIFE 


49 


keep  warm  by  putting  on  more  underclothing,  so  that  the 
nation  appears  to  be  growing  fatter  and  fatter  as  the 
weather  grows  colder.  But  how  can  they  cook  without 
stoves  ?  They  have  little  clay  ovens  in  which  they  put 
charcoal,  and  they  boil  and  fry  over  the  coals. 

Let  us  go  into  the  house.  As  we  approach,  a  little 
maidservant  comes  to  the 
front.  She  gets  down  on 
her  knees,  spreads  out 
her  hands  on  the  floor, 
and  bumps  her  head  on 
the  mats,  in  order  to  show 
us  respect.  She  asks  us 
to  take  off  our  shoes  and 
come  in.  The  Japanese 
never  wear  shoes  in  the 
house,  and  we  have 
already  learned  that  it 
would  be  far  more  polite 
to  keep  our  hats  on  than 
our  shoes.  So,  in  our 
stocking  feet,  we  step  up 
into  the  house,  and  take 
our  seats  on  the  cushions. 

Very  soon  some  of  the 
family  come  in.  They  bow  low,  kneeling  down  and  bend- 
ing again  and  again  to  the  floor.  As  they  rise,  they  draw 
in  their  breath  with  a  loud,  half-whistling  sigh,  as  though 
they  were  overcome  by  the  honor  which  we  are  conferring 
upon  them  by  calling.  We  suck  in  our  breath,  as  we  bow 
in  return.  Then  the  maid-servant  brings  in  a  little  box  of 
charcoal  for  lighting  our  pipes;  for  in  Japan  every  one  is 
expected  to  smoke.     She  next  fetches  a  tray,  which  she 


Winter  Costume. 


50  JAPAN 

places  before  us  on  the  floor.  It  contains  a  porcelain  tea- 
pot and  some  tiny  cups,  each  about  the  size  of  half  an  egg- 
shell. She  again  falls  to  her  knees  and  offers  them  to  us 
with  a  bow.  We  drink  in  Japanese  style,  sipping  the  tea 
with  a  loud  noise  to  show  that  we  like  it. 

But  here  come  the  children  who  have  been  playing  in 
the  garden  back  of  the  house.  They  are  dressed  like  their 
parents,  and  they  bow  to  us  in  the  same  way.  They  are 
very  respectful;  for  all  Japanese  children  honor  their  fathers 
and  mothers,  and  for  one  to  have  a  bad  child  is  disgraceful 
The  mother  takes  one  of  the  little  boys  in  her  arms  and 
rubs  her  cheeks  against  his.  It  is 
in  this  way  that  the  Japanese  show 
their  affection.  They  do  not  kiss  or 
shake  hands,  though  boy  friends 
and  girl  friends  often  go  about  with 
their  arms  around  one  another's 
shoulders. 
-a^^^Ii^eapot-"       ^^at  is  that  on  this  little  one's 

back  ? 
That  is  a  doll.  The  little  girl  is  carrying  her  baby.  The 
Japanese  mother  often  goes  about  with  the  baby  tied  to 
her  back,  and  the  children  sometimes  do  the  same  with 
their  dolls.  As  soon  as  a  girl  is  old  enough,  she  is  taught 
to  take  care  of  her  little  baby  brother  or  sister  that  way, 
and  as  we  ride  through  the  streets  we  shall  see  many  chil- 
dren with  live  babies  hung  to  their  shoulders.  A  girl  of 
eight  or  nine  years  will  often  carry  a  baby  so  tied,  and  take 
it  about  as  she  plays.  The  baby  blinks  through  its  queer 
eyes  at  the  great  world  around  it,  and,  when  it  grows  tired, 
it  drops  its  head  on  its  shoulder  and  goes  fast  asleep,  while 
the  little  nurse  keeps  on  making  mud  pies,  playing  ball,  or 
otherwise  amusing  herself. 


HOME  LIFE 


We  shall  see  many  children  with  live  babies  hung  to  their  shoulders. 


52  JAPAN 

Our  Japanese  friends  invite  us  to  take  supper  with  them 
and  stay  overnight.  They  entertain  us  in  the  parlors, 
which  are  at  the  back  of  the  house.  Soon  they  tell  us  that 
the  bath  is  prepared,  and  that  as  the  honored  guests  we  are 
to  have  the  first  turn. 

The  Japanese  are  exceedingly  cleanly,  and  every  well-to- 
do  home  has  its  own  bathroom.  It  is  a  sign  of  good  breed- 
ing to  ask  a  guest  to  have  his  bath  first.  The  custom  is  such 
that  all  the  family,  no  matter  how  many  the  children,  bathe 
in  the  same  water  and  in  the  same  tub  and  the  servants  get 
in  at  the  last.  This  seems  strange  to  us,  but  we  learn  that 
no  soap  is  used  until  after  leaving  the  tub.  One  cannot 
cleanse  himself  without  soap,  and  the  hot  water  in  the  tub 
is  used  merely  to  open  the  pores  of  the  skin.  After  leaving 
the  tub,  the  bather  has  a  basin  of  water  and  soap  with  which 
he  washes  all  over,  rinsing  himself  clean  with  fresh  water. 
There  are  public  baths  in  all  the  Japanese  cities,  and  in 
Tokyo  alone  there  are  more  than  ten  hundred  in  which 
several  hundred  thousand  people  bathe  daily.  The  cost  is 
but  one  cent  a  bath,  so  that  even  the  poorest  can  keep  him- 
self clean. 

The  little  maidservant  comes  and  leads  us  to  the  bath. 
It  is  a  neat  little  room  with  movable  walls  of  white  pine. 
She  pulls  a  section  back,  and  we  enter.  In  one  corner 
a  stream  of  cold  water  flows  through  a  wooden  pipe  into  a 
barrel,  from  which  a  trough  carries  it  off  into  a  little  brook 
in  the  garden  outside.  From  this  barrel  we  shall  get  cold 
water  after  we  are  through  with  our  bath ;  and  with  that 
shining  brass  basin  which  we  see  on  the  floor,  we  can  pour 
cold  or  warm  water  over  our  bodies  after  using  the  soap. 

The  bathtub  is  of  wood.  It  is  much  like  a  short,  oval 
barrel.  Under  it  burns  a  fire  of  charcoal  with  a  stovepipe 
running  up  through  the  water  at  the  back  of  the  tub,  this 


HOME  LIFE 


53 


Each  has  his  own  table." 
The  Japanese  are  fond 


pipe  being  protected  by  a  strip  of  white  pine  which  keeps 
one's  body  from  touching  it.  The  water  steams  slightly, 
but  from  its  appearance  it  is  no  warmer  than  milk  when 
fresh  from  the  cow.  So,  having  undressed,  we  jump  in. 
Whew !  How  hot  it  is  !  The  water  is  almost  boiling,  and 
we  gasp  as  we  sink,  half 
scalded,  to  the  bottom. 
We  quickly  climb  out,  find- 
ing our  skins  as  red  as  a 
beet,  and  the  little  servant, 
who  stands  outside  the  wall 
and  peeps  in,  giggles,  as  she 
enters  and  hands  us  our  clothes 
of  hot  baths,  and  the  people  of  all  ages,  from  grandparents 

to    babies,    half    scald    them- 
selves every  day. 

By  this  time  supper  is  ready, 
and  we  enjoy  a  Japanese 
meal.  We  sit  on  the  floor  as 
we  eat,  and  each  has  his  own 
table,  which  is  not  quite  a 
foot  high  and  little  more  than 
a  tray.  The  first  course  is 
sweet  cake  and  candy  with 
sake,  a  beverage  made  from 
fermented  rice.  It  is  brought 
"The  rice  is  brought  in-"        .^  ^^  ^  ^.^^^^  maidservant,  who 

kneels  down  and  bows  low  as  she  hands  it  to  us.  Next 
comes  a  soup  made  of  beans,  and  with  it  some  raw  fish  cut 
in  slices,  and  served  with  a  queer  sauce  called  soy.  This 
is  of  a  dark  brown  color,  and  is  made  of  a  mixture  of 
vinegar,  salt,  and  fermented  wheat.  Then  there  are  salads 
and  pickles  of  various  kinds.     There  is  a  dish  of  stewed 


54 


JAPAN 


eels,  and  after  that  some  green  pears  as  hard  as  a  stone,  so 
served  because  the  Japanese  like  this  fruit  green. 

The  supper  closes  with  rice  and  tea.  The  rice  is  brought 
in  to  us  in  a  round  wooden  box  of  the  size  of  a  peck  measure. 
It  is  offered  again  and  again  ;  for  the  theory  is  that  no  one 
need  go  away  hungry  if  he  has  plenty  of  rice.  The  tea  is 
served  in  little  cups,  and  we  observe  that  our  Japanese 
friends  sometimes  pour  hot  tea  into  their  rice. 


Japanese  Family  at  Dinner. 

Throughout  the  meal  we  watch  our  friends  eat,  and  as  \ 
far  as  possible  imitate  them.  The  soup  is  served  in  bowls 
of  the  size  of  a  large  coffee  cup.  Each  has  his  own  bowl, 
and  we  sip  the  soup  by  raising  the  bowl  to  our  lips.  As 
to  the  fish,  rice,  and  salad,  we  do  our  best  to  eat  them 
with  chopsticks,  but  it  is  no  easy  task.  If  you  will  balance 
two  long  slate  pencils  between  your  thumb  and  two  fingers, 
and  try  to  pick  up  grains  of  rice  or  bits  of  other  food  with 
their  ends,  you  can  see  how  we  eat.     It  takes  a  long  time. 


HOME  LIFE 


55 


and  it  is  only  the  politeness  of  our  Japanese  friends  that 
keeps  them  from  smiling  as  our  food  drops  on  its  way  to 
our  mouths. 

The  Japanese  eat  three  meals  a  day ;  a  breakfast  on  ris- 
ing, a  dinner  at  noon,  and  supper  at  sunset.  They  seldom 
have  more  than  two  courses,  and  eat  less  than  we  do. 
They  are  good  cooks,  and  many  of  their  dishes  are  fit  for 
a  king.  They  make  delicious  fish  soups,  and  have  fish 
cooked  in  all  sorts  of  ways.  They  eat  but  little  meat,  except 
that  of  fowls  ;  and  butter  and  cheese  are  not  common.  Rice 
takes  much  the  same  place  that  bread  has  with  us.  It  is 
usually  steamed  so  that  each  grain  is  separate  from  the 
others,  and  is  eaten  without  sugar  as  a  cereal  or  vegetable, 
and  not  as  a  pudding.  Some  of  the  people  are  so  poor 
that  they  cannot  afford  rice,  and  millet  and  other  grains 
are  used  in  its  stead.  The  Japanese  have  delicious  sweet- 
meats, and  they  make  one  kind 
known  as  midzu-ami,  which  is 
much  like  fig  paste  or  a  stiff 
candy  jelly  of  the  color  of 
honey.  This  is  delicious; 
and,  moreover,  it  is  of  such  a 
nature  that  it  will  digest  other 
foods,  the  weakest  stomach  be- 
ing able  to  stand  it.     It  is  also 

After  we  have  finished  our 
anese  friends,  we  sit  with 
floor.  The  neighbors  come  in 
women  and  men  smoking  little 
We  play  games  with  the  children,  and  the  girls  show  us 
their  dolls.  In  this  way  the  evening  rapidly  passes,  and  at 
last,  our  callers  having  left,  the  time  comes  for  sleep. 

Now  there  is  a  commotion.     The  servants  go  out  and 


Hand  with  Chopsticks. 

used  as  a  sirup. 

supper  with  our  Jap- 

them  awhile  on  the 

and  chat  with  us,  both 

pipes   as   they  talk. 


56 


JAPAN 


pull  the  sliding  walls  to,  until  the  whole  building  is  a  well- 
closed  box  ventilated  only  through  the  cracks  at  the  corners. 
They  have  shut  up  the  house  for  the  night.  For  some 
time  we  have  been  wondering  where  we  should  sleep.  We 
have  seen  no  sign  of  a  bed,  and  when  our  friends  take  us 


"  We  have  been  wondering  where  we  should  sleep." 

upstairs  to  the  room  in  which  we  are  to  stay,  we  find  it  as 
bare  as  the  parlor  below.  Our  little  maidservant,  however, 
goes  to  one  side  of  the  room,  and  slides  back  a  board  which 
hides  a  recess  in  the  wall.  From  this  she  pulls  out  arm- 
ful after  armful  of  soft  thick  comforts  or  quilts,  and  lays 
them  upon  the  matting,  one  over  the 
other,  turningdown  thetoponefor  a 
cover.  We  look  about  for  sheets,  and 
are  told  that  the  Japanese  do  not  use 
them  ;  but  the  maid  gives  us  long  cot- 
"  — the  size  of  a  brick."  ton  kimonos  as  nightgowns  instead. 
We  ask  for  pillows,  and  she  hands  each  of  us  a  block  of  wood 
of  the  size  of  a  brick,  with  a  roll  of  soft  paper  on  top.  She 
shows  us  how  to  fit  this  under  the  neck,  allowing  the  head 
to  hang  out  over  the  edges.     We  try  it,  but  find  that  though 


HOW  JAPAN  IS   GOVERNED  5/ 

it  may  do  for  Japanese  children  who  are  accustomed  to  it, 
it  will  not  do  for  Americans ;  and  so  we  roll  up  our  coats  and 
use  them  instead.  The  house  grows  quiet.  We  are  tired 
with  our  long  day's  sight-seeing,  and  within  a  few  moments 
have  dropped  off  to  sleep  and  are  dreaming  of  home. 

7.  THE  EMPEROR.  HOW  JAPAN  IS  GOVERNED 

THE  chief  object  of  our  travels  to-day  is  to  learn  some- 
thing of  how  the  Japanese  Empire  is  governed.  It  is 
ruled  by  an  Emperor  through  his  Cabinet  and  Parliament. 
The  Emperor  is  the  Executive,  and  his  powers  are  some- 
what like  those  of  our  President.  He  has  the  right  to 
make  treaties  with  other  nations,  and  he  can  at  his  will  de- 
clare war  or  peace.  His  Cabinet  consists  of  nine  Ministers, 
who  are  at  the  heads  of  the  great  departments  which  carry 
on  the  government.  They  correspond  to  our  department 
secretaries  at  Washington;  and  include  Ministers  of  the 
Treasury,  State,  War,  and  Navy,  as  well  as  of  Agriculture, 
Justice,  Interior,  Education,  and  Communications,  the  last 
having  to  deal  with  the  Postal  Service  and  also  with  rail- 
roads and  telegraphs. 

When  Commodore  Perry  came  to  Japan,  the  people  had 
a  feudal  system  much  Uke  that  of  Europe  during  the  Middle 
Ages.  The  country  was  divided  up  into  states,  owned  by 
daimos,  or  lords,  each  of  whom  had  many  samurai,  or  soldiers. 
These  lords  and  their  retainers  formed  the  Japanese  army, 
and  their  commander-in-chief,  called  the  Shogun,  was  the 
real  ruler.  The  people  were  heavily  taxed  and  they  had 
but  few  rights.  The  Emperor  was  supposed  to  be  too  holy 
to  rule,  and  was  kept  secluded  in  his  palaces  in  Kioto, 
in  central  Japan. 

CARP.  ASIA  —  4 


58 


JAPAN 


These  conditions  continued  for  some  years  after  Japan 
was  opened  to  the  trade  of  the  world.  Then  the  greatest 
men  of  the  empire  decided  that  the  country  should  have  a 
modern  government.  They  came  together  and  overthrew 
the  Shogun,  and  in  1868  made  the  Emperor  the  actual 
ruler.  They  formed  a  constitution  and  established  a  par- 
liament elected  by  the  people.     Now  all  the  laws  are  made 


Parliament  House,  Interior. 

by  the  Parliament,  and  the  people  themselves  say  who  and 
what  shall  be  taxed.  The  members  of  Parliament  vote  all 
the  money  for  carrying  on  the  government,  and  in  this  way 
every  one  has  his  own  rights,  and  the  Japanese  are  almost 
as  free  as  ourselves. 

The  Houses  of  Parliament  correspond  to  our  Congress. 
There  are  two  Houses,  an  Upper  and  a  Lower.  The 
Upper  House  is  much  like  our  Senate,  or  perhaps  more 
like  the  English  House  of  Lords.     It  represents  the  nobil- 


HOW  JAPAN   IS  GOVERNED  59 

ity,  most  of  its  members  being  chosen  from  the  noble 
families,  although  some  are  appointed  by  the  Emperor  on 
account  of  their  learning  or  for  the  services  which  they 
have  rendered  the  state.  The  Lower  House  corresponds 
to  our  House  of  Representatives.  Its  members  are  elected 
by  the  people,  only  the  men  being  allowed  to  vote.  Parlia- 
ment meets  much  like  our  Congress,  and  its  business  is 
done  in  about  the  same  way.  The  members  discuss  all 
measures  relating  to  public  affairs,  and  by  a  majority 
decide  what  is  best  to  be  done. 

It  is  not  a  long  ride  from  the  palaces  to  the  Parliament 
Buildings.  There  is  a  big  wall  around  them  entered  by 
gates,  inside  which  we  see  hundreds  of  jinrikishas  with 
barelegged  men  in  butter-bowl  hats  and  blue  tights  and 
jackets,  waiting  for  their  employers,  the  members  of  Par- 
liament. We  enter  and  find  the  Houses  very  like  those  of 
our  Congress  at  Washington  and  the  scenes  much  the  same. 

Leaving  here,  we  drive  to  the  Emperor's  Palaces.  His 
Majesty  has  a  vast  estate  in  the  heart  of  Tokyo,  made  up 
of  hill  and  valley,  with  lakes,  and  streams,  and  beautiful 
woods.  As  we  saw  from  the  watch  tower,  it  is  surrounded 
by  wide  moats  filled  with  water,  where  great  lotus  flowers 
float  upon  their  green  leaves.  On  the  banks  are  many 
widespreading  pine  trees  centuries  old. 

We  cross  the  moats  on  bridges  of  marble,  and,  passing 
soldiers  and  servants  in  European  clothes,  find  ourselves  in 
the  home  of  this  mighty  ruler.  It  is  far  different  from  that 
of  our  President.  The  palaces  consist  of  many  one-story 
buildings  constructed  after  the  style  of  Japanese  temples. 
They  cover  acres  and  have  hundreds  of  rooms.  In  some 
of  them  the  walls  are  sliding  screens  of  plate  glass  which 
move  in  grooves  so  that  they  can  be  shoved  back  and 
several  rooms  thrown  into  one.     The  ceilings  are  decorated 


6o  JAPAN 

with  the  finest  embroidery,  and  some  of  the  walls  are  cov- 
ered with  brocaded  silks  like  that  of  a  ball  dress.  The 
floors  are  inlaid  in  a  sort  of  a  wooden  mosaic,  and  the  mat- 
ting upon  them  is  as  soft  as  thick  moss. 

We  pass  through  hall  after  hall,  and  at  last  reach  His 
Majesty's  presence.  He  is  dressed  in  the  uniform  of  a 
general  of  his  army,  and  looks  not  unUke  some  other  Jap- 
anese we  have  met.  He  is  much  revered  by  the  people. 
Any  Japanese  man  would  give  up  his  life  for  the  Emperor. 
His  soldiers  rush  into  battle  shouting  his  name,  and  they 
esteem  it  a  glory  to  die  in  his  cause.  This  respect  for  the 
Emperor  is  a  part  of  the  education  of  the  Japanese  school- 
boy. A  promise  to  be  true  to  His  Majesty  is  hung  on  the 
walls  of  every  schoolroom  ;  and  in  case  of  a  fire  that  prom- 
ise is  the  first  thing  the  children  are  instructed  to  save. 
The  people  think  so  much  of  him  that  they  keep  their  heads 
bowed  as  he  goes  through  the  streets. 

The  Emperor  is  a  hard-working  monarch.  He  loves 
his  subjects,  and  most  of  his  time  is  taken  up  in  the  affairs 
of  the  government.  He  has  Cabinet  Ministers  who  bring 
him  daily  reports  from  all  parts  of  the  empire  ;  and  in 
time  of  war  it  is  he  who  directs  the  movements  of  the  army 
and  navy.  He  devotes  himself  also  to  the  arts  of  peace, 
and  does  all  he  can  to  develop  Japan. 

The  Empress  is  also  greatly  beloved  by  the  people. 
Her  Majesty  has  her  own  palaces  inside  the  moats,  in 
which  she  lives  with  her  secretaries  and  servants.  She 
wears  foreign  clothes  upon  all  state  occasions,  although 
when  at  home  she  prefers  Japanese  gowns  and  Japanese 
ways.  Her  Majesty  is  at  the  head  of  many  movements 
for  the  advancement  of  women.  She  sometimes  visits  the 
schools,  and  she  has  estabhshed  a  great  school  of  her  own 
for  the  daughters  of  the  princes  and  nobles. 


HOW  JAPAN   IS   GOVERNED 


6l 


On  our  way  back  from  the  palace  we  pass  many  police- 
men, and  we  observe  that  good  order  is  kept  everywhere. 
The  police  have  foreign  clothes  much  like  those  worn  by 
the  police  of  America.  They  carry  swords  and  clubs,  and 
sometimes  tie  their  prisoners  with  ropes  and  drive  them 
on  their  way  to  the  jail.  There  are  now  police  stations  all 
over  the  empire,  and  Hfe  and  property  are  quite  as  safe  as 
in  any  part  of  our  Union. 

We  can  go  through  the  country 
as  freely  as  though  we  were 
in  Europe  or  the  United  States. 
Japan  is  now  on  an  equal  footing 
with  all  other  lands,  and  travelers 
have  the  same  rights.  The  police 
will  not  stop  us  and  ask  us  as  to 
our  business.  The  Japanese  are 
a  courteous  people,  and  every- 
thing, excepting  the  fortifications, 
is  shown  to  the  stranger. 

There   are  courts  everywhere, 
and  all  are  allowed  a  fair  trial.  The 
greatest  penalty  that  can  be  in- 
flicted is  death  by  hanging,  but  this  is  only  for  murder.    Most 
other  crimes  are  punished  by  imprisonment  and  fines,  and  for 
small  offenses  the  fines  are  som.etimes  as  low  as  five  cents. 

We  shall  next  visit  the  Department  of  War  which  reg- 
ulates all  matters  relating  to  the  Japanese  army.  The 
country  has  now  one  of  the  best  armies  of  the  world,  and 
its  arrangements  are  such  that  it  will  always  have  plenty 
of  soldiers.  We  see  the  schoolboys  everywhere  drilling. 
They  begin  as  soon  as  they  are  strong  enough  to  carry  a 
gun  and  go  through  their  exercises  under  the  command 
of  real  army  officers.     At  the  age  of  seventeen  every  boy 


They  tie  their  prisoners  —  " 


HOW  JAPAN  IS  GOVERNED 


63 


is  expected  to  enter  some  branch  of  the  army,  and  after  he 
becomes  a  man  he  has  seven  years  to  serve  as  a  soldier. 

The  Japanese  navy  is  one  of  the 
strengest  of  the  world.  The  country 
has  naval  schools,  and  it  has  ship- 
yards in  which  great  gunboats  are 
made.  It  has  also  many  large  war 
vessels  which  have  been  constructed 
in  Europe,  and  it  is  well  able  to  de- 
fend itself  from  invasion  by  other 
nations  and  to 
stand  up  for  its 
rights. 

We  find  that 
oneof  the  most 
important  offi- 
cers  of  the 
E  m  p  e  r  o  r's 
Cabinet  is  the 
Minister  of 
Communica- 
tions, who  man- 
ages the  rail- 
roads and  also 
the  postal  and 
telegraph  sys- 
tems. In  the  past  Japan  had  no 
means  of  transportation  except  horses 
or  men,  and  all  letters  were  carried 
by  messengers  whose  chief  costume  j^p^„^3^  p^^^^^^  3t^^p3^ 
consisted  of  a  cloth  about  the  waist 
and  a  coat  of  tattooing.  The  service  was  so  expensive 
that  only  the  rich  could  afford  to  send  letters.     Then  an 


Post  Card. 


64 


JAPAN 


American  from  our  Post  Office  Department  was  brought 
out  to  Japan.  He  showed  the  Emperor  how  we  carried 
our  mails,  and  His  Majesty  ordered  that  the  same  system 
should  be  introduced  here. 

The  present  postal  arrangements  are  good,  and  letters 
are  sent   all   over  the  country   for   less   than   two   cents 
^^^^^  apiece.    The  government  makes 

^PHIfc  its    own    postage    stamps,    and 

^^  '^  picture   postal    cards    are    sold 

by  the  millions.  If  we  should 
call  at  the  Post  Office  Depart- 
ment, we  might  learn  that  its 
service  is  now  handling  more 
than  a  billion  post  cards  and 
letters  a  year,  and  that  it  carries 
many  million  newspapers  and 
books.  Connected  with  every 
post  office  is  a  savings  bank  in 
which  the  children  are  urged  to 
deposit  their  pennies  ;  and  there 
is  also  a  telegraph  office  at 
which  one  can  send  a  fifteen-word  message  to  any  part  of 
Japan  for  ten  cents. 

We  shall  meet  Japanese  postmen  on  the  streets  of  every 
city  we  visit.  They  wear  blue  clothes,  and  their  blue- 
mittened  feet  rest  on  straw  sandals.  They  deliver  the 
letters  at  all  the  houses,  and  collect  from  the  mail  boxes  at 
the  street  corners  just  as  our  postmen  do. 

Our  next  visit  is  to  the  Treasury  Department  to  learn 
something  of  the  money  of  the  country.  These  people  use 
coins  of  gold,  silver,  and  copper,  and  they  also  have  paper 
bank  notes,  made  in  their  own  Bureau  of  Engraving  and 
Printing.     The  unit  of  value  is  the  gold  yen,  worth  about 


We  shall  meet  Japanese  post- 
men —  " 


JAPANESE  CHILDREN  AT  SCHOOL  65 

fifty  cents,  but  this  is  not  coined,  a  silver  yen  of  the  size 
and  shape  of  our  dollar  taking  its  place.  Each  yen  contains 
one  hundred  sen  or  cents,  and  each  sen  ten  rin.  There 
are  fifty-sen,  twenty-sen,  ten-sen,  and  five-sen  pieces  of 
silver,  and  there  are  also  nickel  coins  of  five  sen.  The 
copper  pieces  are  two-sen,  one-sen,  one  half  sen,  and  one 
rin  or  one  tenth  of  a  sen,  the  latter  being  worth  about 
one  twentieth  of  one  cent  of  our  money. 

8.   JAPANESE   CHILDREN    AT   SCHOOL. 
BOOKS   AND    NEWSPAPERS 

EVERYWHERE  we  go  in  Japan  we  meet  many  children 
going  to  school.  We  can  easily  know  them,  for  the 
law  requires  that  all  school  children  shall  wear  the  same 
costume.  The  boys  have  on  kimonos  over  which  are  worn 
a  sort  of  divided  skirt  that  falls  from  the  waist  to  the  ankles. 
They  also  wear  caps.  The  girls  have  kimonos  and  very 
full  dark  red  or  plum-colored  skirts  with  heavy  plaits. 
Their  skirts  fall  to  the  feet,  or  rather  to  the  foot  mittens, 
which  end  at  the  ankles.  They  go  bareheaded,  most  of 
them  carrying  paper  umbrellas. 

There  are  now  public  schools  everywhere  in  Japan,  and 
the  education  they  give  is  quite  as  good  as  our  own. 
There  are  kindergartens  for  girls  and  boys  up  to  six  years 
and  schools  of  different  grades  for  those  who  are  older ; 
as  well  as  high  schools,  business  schools,  schools  of  manual 
training,  and  great  universities.  All  children  are  compelled 
by  law  to  attend  school  until  they  are  ten  years  of  age, 
and  they  may  go  to  the  high  schools  if  they  wish. 

Some  Japanese  families  are  so  poor  that  they  need  their 
children  to  help  them ;  and  such  children  are  put  to  work 


JAPANESE  CHILDREN   AT   SCHOOL  6/ 

in  the  fields,  the  stores,  or  the  factories,  when  they  have 
passed  the  age  at  which  they  are  required  to  attend 
school.  Many  thousands  of  boys  and  girls  continue 
their  education  until  they  are  grown,  studying  the  same 
things  that  are  taught  in  our  country.  After  leaving  the 
schools,  not  a  few  go  to  the  colleges,  and  some  graduate 
at  the  great  universities.  All  the  schools  have  physical 
exercises,  and  the  girls,  as  well  as  the  boys,  go  through 
their  gymnastics  on  the  playgrounds. 

In  some  respects  the  studies  of  these  children  are  more 
difficult  than  ours.  Our  alphabet  has  but  twenty-six  letters. 
That  of  Japan  has  forty-seven,  and  in  addition  there  are 
so  many  word  signs  in  the  language  that  an  educated 
man  must  know  thousands  of  characters.  Some  of  the 
signs  mean  whole  words  or  short  sentences,  and  there  are 
curious  ends  and  crooks  which  have  to  be  learned. 

Let  us  visit  a  primary  school  and  see  the  children  at 
study  and  play.  It  is  early,  and  the  little  ones  dressed  in 
their  uniforms  are  tramping  along  on  their  wooden  shoes 
through  the  streets.  Some  have  their  books  done  up  in 
bundles  with  cloths  wrapped  about  them,  and  others  carry 
ink  bottles  attached  to  strings  tied  around  the  necks  of  the 
bottles. 

Here  comes  the  teacher.  We  can  hear  him  afar  off  as 
he  clatters  along  on  his  white  wooden  sandals.  He  wears 
a  gown  of  dark  gray,  and  spectacles  cover  his  eyes.  When 
he  comes  up,  the  children  bow  down  almost  to  their  knees ; 
and,  as  they  rise,  suck  in  their  breath  as  a  polite  mark  of 
respect.  The  teacher  does  likewise.  He  smiles  as  he 
approaches  the  schoolhouse ;  and,  placing  his  sandals  out- 
side, walks  in  and  takes  his  seat  at  his  desk. 

The  children  also  leave  their  shoes  in  the  hall.  They 
have  desks  like  ours,  and  the  schoolroom  with  the  maps 


JAPANESE  CHILDREN   AT  SCHOOL 


69 


on  the  wall  and  blackboards  remind  us  of  home.  But  see  ! 
How  queer  the  books  are  !  They  begin  at  the  back  instead 
of  the  front,  and  the  lines  run  up  and  down  the  page  instead 
of  across  it.  What  curious  letters  !  It  is  hard  to  tell  one 
from  another ;  they  make  us  think  of  the  characters  we  see 
on  the  tea  boxes  of  a  grocery  store. 

Here  is  a  class  of  five  boys  learning  the  alphabet.  The 
teacher  makes  the  characters  on  the  blackboard,  and  the 

boys    copy    them    on    sheets    of ■ 

paper,  singing  out  their  names  as 
they  do  so.  Do  they  write  with 
pencils  or  pens  ?  No,  they  have 
brushes  much  like  those  we  use 
for  water  colors,  and  they  paint 
the  letters  with  black  India  ink. 
Notice  how  they  hold  their 
brushes.  Their  hands  do  not 
touch  the  paper;  the  brush  is  al- 
most vertical  and,  instead  of  writ- 
ing across  the  page  from  left  to 
right,  they  begin  on  the  right 
hand  side  of  the  sheet  and  paint  ^^  *"^    esson. 

the  lines  from  the  top  to  the  bottom.  Each  child  has  an  ink- 
stone  beside  him.  Upon  this  he  puts  a  few  drops  of  water, 
and  then  rubs  the  stone  with  a  little  black  cake  of  India 
ink,  thus  making  his  own  ink  as  he  writes.  No  blotters  are 
needed.  The  paper  is  soft  and  porous,  and  sucks  in  the 
ink  as  it  comes  from  the  brush.  They  also  write  with  the 
pen,  and  for  this  they  use  the  same  kind  of  ink  that  we  do. 

There  is  a  little  boy  learning  to  count  with  the  soroban. 
He  has  a  box  of  wooden  buttons  as  wide  as  this  book  and 
about  a  foot  long,  like  the  one  we  saw  the  bookkeeper  use 
in  the  store.     The  buttons  are  strung  upon  wires.     They 


70  JAPAN 

represent  units,  tens,  hundreds,  and  thousands,  and,  by 
moving  them  up  and  down  he  is  able  to  do  sums  of  ad- 
dition, subtraction,  multipHcation,  and  division  more  quickly 
than  we  can  with  pencil  and  paper.  It  is  said  that  any 
sum  in  arithmetic  can  be  performed  upon  the  soroban,  even 
to  the  extracting  of  square  root  and  cube  root. 

In  some  of  the  schools  we  shall  find  translations  of 
American  textbooks,  and  many  of  the  scholars  will  tell  us 
that  they  think  their  hardest  study  is  EngHsh,  because  every- 
thing connected  with  it  is  wrong  end  foremost.    They  must 

begin  at  what  seems  to 
them  the  wrong  end  of 
the  book.  They  write 
from  the  other  side  of 
the  page,  and  the  sen- 
tences go  across  the  page 
The  Soroban.  the  wrong  way.     They 

also  find  the  pen  awk- 
ward to  handle,  but  they  feel  they  must  learn  to  write 
English;  for  their  country  is  now  a  world  power,  and  it  does 
a  great  business  with  us  and  other  nations  speaking  that 
language. 

The  Japan  of  to-day  is  a  land  of  books  and  newspapers. 
Nearly  all  the  books  used  in  the  schools  are  made  in  Japan, 
and  tens  of  thousands  of  new  ones  are  published  each  year. 
The  newspapers,  Hke  the  books,  begin  at  the  back,  and 
their  columns  run  horizontally  across  the  page  instead  of  up 
and  down  it.  The  lines  run  up  and  down  the  columns  in- 
stead of  across  them,  and  one  reads  from  the  top  of  a  line 
to  the  bottom  and  then  goes  to  the  top  of  the  next  line  to 
the  left,  and  so  on,  until  he  finally  reaches  the  end  of  the 
sentence.  This  is  marked  by  a  little  circle,  or  the  Japanese 
period,  instead  of  the  dot  that  we  use.     The  newspapers 


(71) 


Japanese  Newspaper,  one  Page. 


72  JAPAN 

contain  advertisements,  editorials,  stories,  and  telegraphic 
dispatches. 

It  takes  a  vast  number  of  characters  to  form  the  type 
for  one  paper ;  for  a  thousand  letters  may  be  used  on  the 
same  page.  Indeed,  the  characters  are  so  many  that  boys 
are  employed  by  the  printers  to  run  from  case  to  case  and 
collect  the  type  as  required. 

9.   JAPANESE  CHILDREN    AT  PLAY 

BUT  how  about  play  ?  Are  the  lives  of  Japanese 
children  made  up  of  nothing  but  school  and  hard 
work.?  No,  indeed.  They  play  as  well  as  study, 
and  they  have  quite  as  much  fun  as  we  have  at  home. 
There  are  large  playgrounds  connected  with  the  schools, 
and  they  engage  in  athletic  sports  of  one  kind  or  other  at 
every  recess.  They  have  more  play  time  during  the  school 
day  than  our  children,  for  on  the  average  fifteen  minutes 
are  taken  off  from  each  hour  for  them  to  go  out  and  drill 
or  run  around  the  grounds  and  do  as  they  please. 

The  Japanese  play  basket  ball,  football,  and  cricket. 
They  exercise  as  soldiers,  and  we  see  little  companies  with 
flags  marching  about  here  and  there.  They  have  all  sorts 
of  playthings,  and  there  are  toy  stores  in  the  cities.  There  are 
peddlers  who  wander  over  the  country  seUing  nothing  but 
toys ;  and  men  who  carry  little  ovens  or  stoves  with  real 
fire  in  them  about  the  streets,  and  who  have  sweet  dough 
for  sale.  A  boy  or  girl  can  hire  a  stove,  for  an  hour,  for 
less  than  five  cents,  and  the  stove  man  will  furnish  the 
dough  and  look  on  while  the  child  makes  up  cakes  and 
bakes  them.  Sometimes  the  man  cuts  out  Japanese  letters, 
and  the  child  cooks  them  and  learns  their  names  as   he 


JAPANESE  CHILDREN  AT  PLAY 


73 


plays.  There  are  also  men  who  sit  in  the  streets  and  mold 
animals,  jinrikishas,  and  other  things  of  rice  paste  for 
children,  for  a  very  small  sum. 

The  dressing  of  dolls  is  a  favorite  pastime  for  girls.  There 
are  three  days  of  every  year  during  which  the  people 
celebrate  the  Feast  of  the  Dolls.  At  this  time  all  the  dolls 
which  have  been  kept  in  the  family  for  generations  are 


"  —  selling  nothing  but  toys  —  " 

brought  forth,  set  upon  shelves  covered  with  red  cloth,  and 
admired.  Some  of  them  represent  the  Emperor  and  the 
Empress,  and  are  treated  with'  great  honor,  receiving  the 
best  food  of  the  feasts,  to  which  the  dolls  are  served  three 
times  a  day.  After  the  three  days  are  ended,  these  dolls  are 
put  away;  but  the  little  Japanese  girl  has  other  dolls  with 
which  she  plays  the  year  round. 

There  is  also  a  day  devoted  to  the  boys.     We  shall  know 
it  by  seeing  great  balloonlike  paper  fishes  floating  in  the 

CARP.  ASIA  —  5 


74  JAPAN 

air  from  sticks  fastened  to  the  roof  of  each  house  in  which 
a  boy  baby  has  been  born  during  the  year,  and  also  from 
other  houses  where  the  parents  are  glad  they  have  boys. 

The  Japanese  make  kites  of  all  kinds  and  shapes.  Some 
are  singing  kites,  which  give  forth  a  music  like  that  of  an 
iEolian  harp  as  they  float  in  the  air,  being  kept  steady  by 
two  long  tails,  one  tied  to  each  lower  corner.  Others  are 
of  the  shapes  of  dragons  and  babies,  eagles  and  butterflies, 
and  of  all  sorts  of  animals. 

Some  kites  have  their  strings  coated  with  powdered 
glass  for  a  length  of  thirty  feet  from  the  kite.  This  part 
of  the  string  is  first  soaked  with  glue,  after  which  the  glass 
is  dusted  upon  it.  As  the  glue  hardens,  it  holds  the  glass 
particles,  and  the  string  becomes  as  sharp  as  a  file.  It  is 
so  made  for  kite  fighting,  a  sport  in  which  the  boys  try  to 
see  whose  kite  is  the  strongest.  As  they  fly  the  kites 
through  the  air,  each  tries  to  make  his  string  cross  that  of 
his  fellows,  and  to  pull  it  this  way  and  that  so  as  to  cut 
the  string  of  the  other  in  two.  In  such  cases  the  owner 
of  the  victorious  kite  has  the  right  to  the  kite  which  has 
been  cut  loose. 

The  Japanese  have  games  of  instruction  as  well  as  of 
play.  They  have  puzzle  maps  made  of  pieces  of  wood,  and 
by  putting  them  together  they  learn  the  shape  of  Japan 
and  of  the  world.  They  have  a  game  much  like  our 
"Authors,"  called  "  One  Hundred  Verses  of  One  Hundred 
Poets,"  which  teaches  them  the  names  and  best  sayings  of 
the  great  Japanese  scholars.  They  have  also  plays  which 
teach  morals.  For  instance,  one  of  their  games  is  like  our 
"Pussy  Wants  a  Corner";  but  in  Japan  the  "pussy"  is 
known  by  a  name  which  represents  a  Japanese  devil,  and 
the  corners  of  the  room  are  called  the  Harbors  of  Truth, 
in  which  places  only  can  safety  be  found. 


RELIGIONS 


75 


The  Japanese  are  a  moral  people,  and  the  children  go  to 
church  much  as  we  do  at  home.  They  often  play  about 
the  churches  or  temples,  and  picnic  under  their  widespread- 
ing  trees.  The  Japanese  have  two  great  religions.  The 
oldest  is  Shinto,  which  means  "The  Ways  of  the  Gods." 
It  consists  largely  of  the  worship  of  the  heroes  of  Japanese 
history.  The  other  is  Buddhism,  which  was  introduced 
into  Japan  about  600  a.d. 
It  is  one  of  the  world's  great- 
est religions,  and  we  shall 
see  more  of  it  in  Siam  and 
Burma. 

Connected  with  these  re- 
ligions are  gods  of  many 
kinds.  Every  house  has  a 
little  shrine  in  it,  before 
which  the  people  place  offer- 
ings ;  and  there  are  pubHc 
shrines  and  temples  devoted 
to  religion  in  all  parts  of 
Japan.  Some  of  these  are 
considered  especially  holy, 
and  pilgrims  by  the  thou- 
sand, with  staves  in  their  hands  and  with  baggage  tied  to 
their  backs,  walk  from  one  to  another  to  offer  their  prayers. 

We  meet  Buddhist  priests,  who  go  about  with  shaved 
heads,  and  we  spend  hours  in  admiring  the  temples  which 
have  been  erected  to  Buddha.  They  are  one-story  struc- 
tures of  wood,  with  heavy  roofs  of  black  tiles.  Many  are 
of  vast  extent,  and  the  interiors  of  some  are  gorgeous  with 
carvings.  They  have  rooms  papered  with  gold  leaf  and 
walled  with  paintings  by  the  Japanese  masters.  They 
contain  images  plated  with  gold. 


Japanese  Priest. 


Dai  Butzu. 


JAPANESE   FARMS   AND   FARMERS  TJ 

Japan  has  one  statue  of  Buddha  known  as  the  Dai  Butzu 
(di  boot' soo),  which  is  among  the  great  art  works  of  the 
world.  This  we  visit  at  Kamakura,  a  small  town  on  the 
seacoast  not  far  from  Yokohama.  The  statue  is  made  of 
bronze  plated  so  fitted  together  that  the  joints  cannot  be  seen. 
It  is  an  immense  sitting  figure  as  tall  as  a  four-story  house. 
It  has  eyes  of  pure  gold,  and  there  is  a  great  ball  of  silver 
in  the  middle  of  its  forehead.  We  get  some  idea  of  its 
size  when  we  find  that  its  bronze  thumbs  are  so  large  that 
six  of  us  can  sit  on  each  of  them  and  have  room  to  spare, 
and  that  its  golden  eyes  are  each  three  feet  in  length. 


3>«C 


lo.   JAPANESE   FARMS   AND    FARMERS 

WE  shall  now  leave  Tokyo  for  a  trip  through  the 
country.  We  want  to  see  how  the  people  live  out- 
side the  cities,  and  also  to  learn  something  of  Japanese 
farming.  How  shall  we  travel  t  We  might  go  by  railroad 
and  ride  from  one  town  to  another  almost  as  fast  as  on  our 
trains  at  home.  We  should  find  the  cars  quite  as  good. 
They  are  filled  with  Japanese,  some  of  whom,  not  used  to 
foreign  benches  and  chairs,  squat  on  the  cushions,  with 
their  feet  tucked  beneath  them.  Japan  is  fast  building 
railroads.  Trunk  lines  now  connect  all  the  main  centers, 
and  the  rates  of  fare  are  exceedingly  low. 

The  railroad,  however,  is  too  quick  for  our  journey.  So 
we  shall  take  jinrikishas,  with  two  men  to  each  carriage, 
and  shall  ride  almost  as  fast  as  though  we  had  horses. 
One  man  will  pull  in  the  shafts,  and  the  other  will  push 
hard  behind  when  we  go  up  the  hills,  or  by  a  rope  will  har- 
ness himself  to  the  front  and  run  on  ahead.     We  soon  get 


78 


JAPAN 


over  our  shame  at  driving  our  almond-eyed  brothers,  and 
poke  our  human  steeds  in  the  back  and  urge  them  to  hurry. 
The  roads  are  good.  There  are  villages  at  every  few 
miles,  and  we  stay  at  night  in  country  hotels,  where  we 
sleep  on  the  floor.  The  landlord's  children  watch  us  with 
wonder  as  we  come  in.  When  we  have  gone  to  our  rooms, 
they  sometimes  poke  their  fingers  through  the  paper  walls, 

and,  gluing  their  eyes  to 
the  holes,  watch  the 
strange  foreigners  as 
they  undress  and  get  into 
bed.  Some  of  them  have 
never  seen  an  American, 
and  our  straight  eyes  and 
fair  faces  seem  to  them 
very  queer. 

We  have  several  rainy 
days  on  our  journey,  dur- 
ing which  we  pass  farm- 
ers and  travelers  wearing 
the  waterproof  cloak  of 
Japan.  This  is  a  sort  of 
long  shawl  of  rice  straw, 
which,  with  the  big  straw 
hat  above  it,  makes  the  wearer  look  like  a  gigantic  yellow 
bird  trotting  along  upon  human  legs. 

We  cross  now  and  then  over  mountains  so  steep  that  we 
must  leave  our  jinrikishas  and  go  up  in  kagos  (ka'gos). 
The  kago  is  a  framework  hung  to  long  poles  which  are 
carried  on  the  shoulders  of  men.  We  squat  inside  the 
kago  cross-legged,  and  hold  on  for  dear  life  as  our  men 
take  us  over  the  stones,  through  rushing  mountain  streams, 
and  along  precipices,  going  up  hill  and  down. 


"They  are  filled  with  Japanese 


JAPANESE   FARMS   AND   FARMERS 


79 


We  enjoy  the  beautiful  scenery.  Japan  is  made  up  of 
mountains  and  valleys,  and  the  moist  air  keeps  nature  re- 
freshingly green.  The  mountains  feed  many  short  rivers, 
and  brooks  by  the  hundreds  gurgle  down  the  green  hills. 
These  people  understand  irrigation.  Some  of  the  streams 
are  dammed  up  in  the  mountains,  and  the  water  is  carried 
from  one  place  to  another  through  winding  ditches,  so 
that  one  stream  feeds  many  farms.  The  hills  are  often 
cut  into  different  levels  or  terraces,  over  which  the  streams 
flow  successively  on  their  way  to  the  valleys. 

The  mountainous  nature  of  Japan  is  such  that  less  than 
one  sixth  of  the  empire  is  under  cultivation ;  but  that  sixth 
gives  more  than  half  of  the 
people  constant  employment, 
producing  enough  to  feed  the 
entire  population.  The  soil 
is  no  richer  than  ours,  but  the 
Japanese  so  increase  its  fer- 
tility by  good  cultivation  that 
one  acre  often  yields  from 
three  to  five  times  as  much 
as  the  same  space  does  in 
America.  It  is  said  that 
there  are  farms  in  Japan 
which  for  centuries  have 
given  two  crops  every  year. 

How  queer  the  farms  are  ! 

The     whole      country      looks    "  —  the  waterproof  cloak  of  Japan." 

like  a  garden,  with  ponds  of  silvery-white  water  showing 
out  through  the  green.  There  are  no  very  large  fields,  the 
average  tract  being  less  than  two  acres  in  size.  The  crops 
are  of  all  shades  and  colors,  from  the  gold  of  ripe  wheat  to 
the  green  of   fresh  sprouting  rice.     We  look  in  vain  for 


So 


JAPAN 


fences,  houses,  and  barns.     The  Japanese  have  no  fences. 
They  do  not  live  on  their  farms,  but  in  villages  of  thatched 


A  Farmer's  House. 


wooden  houses  strung  along  the  main  roads.  There  is  no 
need  of  barns,  as  the  crops  are  sold  almost  as  soon  as 
they  are  harvested. 

There  are  but  few  sheep  in  Japan,  and  in  some  parts  of 
the  empire  very  few  horses  and  cattle.  In  many  places 
the  people  would  look  upon  sheep  as  wild  animals.  Cattle 
are  still  largely  employed  as  pack  animals,  and  their  meat 
is  used  more  and  more  every  year.  There  are  now  over 
one  million  in  the  country. 

Breeds  of  fine  horses  have  been  brought  in  for  the 
army,  and  there  are  many  pack  horses  in  some  parts  of 
Japan.  Ponies  are  used  for  hauHng,  and  we  often  pass 
one  hitched  to  a  cart  and  led  by  a  big-hatted  peasant.    The 


JAPANESE   FARMS  AND  FARMERS  8 1 

draft  horses  are  shod  with  straw  shoes ;  the  straw  is  so 
braided  that  it  forms  a  round  mat  about  half  an  inch  thick, 
which  is  fastened  to  the  animal's  foot  by  straw  strings  run- 
ning around  the  leg  just  above  the  hoof.  Each  pack  horse 
has  a  stock  of  fresh  shoes  tied  to  his  saddle,  and  the  farmer 
who  leads  him  changes  his  shoes  as  soon  as  they  become 
worn.  Such  shoes  cost  less  than  one  cent  a  set.  The  dis- 
tances through  the  country  districts  are  often  measured  by 
the  number  of  shoes  which  the  horses  wear  out  while  travel- 
ing, and  it  is  said  that  the  average  horseshoe  will  last  for  a 
walk  of  over  eight  miles. 

We  observe  that  the  farmers  of  Japan  have  been  less 
affected  by  our  civilization  than  the  people  of  the  cities. 
They  live  much  as  they  did  in  the  past,  and  have  many  of 
the  customs  of  old  Japan.  We  occasionally  see  Japanese 
women  who  seem  very  homely.  Their  heads  are  shaved 
close  to  the  scalp,  and  they  have  no  sign  of  eyebrows. 
Upon  inquiry  we  learn  that  they  are  widows,  who  keep 
their  heads  shaved  in  order  to  show  their  grief  for  the  loss 
of  their  husbands. 

Many  of  the  peasant  women  look  pretty  until  they  open 
their  mouths.  We  then  notice  that  their  teeth  are  as  black 
as  a  pair  of  new  rubber  shoes.  They  are  wives  who  are 
destroying  their  beauty  to  show  their  husbands  that  they 
do  not  care  for  the  attentions  of  others.  The  men  in  some 
cases  have  their  heads  shaved  on  the  top,  with  the  long 
locks  at  the  side  and  the  back  fastened  up  on  the  crown  of 
the  head  in  a  stiff  queue  like  a  door  knocker.  This  is  the 
old  style  of  wearing  the  hair,  and  was  the  usual  fashion  when 
Perry  came.  As  time  goes  on,  these  old-fashioned  customs 
grow  less  and  less  common,  and  they  will  doubtless  in 
time  disappear. 

The  farm  hands  of  Japan  wear  but  Httle  clothing  when 


82  JAPAN 

at  work  in  the  fields.  The  weather  is  hot  in  the  summer, 
and  some  have  on  nothing  except  a  flat  hat  of  white  straw, 
as  big  as  a  parasol,  and  a  cloth  tied  around  the  waist.  We 
meet  half-naked  children  with  tools  on  their  shoulders,  on 
their  way  to  the  fields.  We  see  barefooted  women  clad  in 
big  hats  and  blue  cotton  gowns.  The  women  and  men  labor 
away  side  by  side,  and  the  children  have  their  share  in  the 
toil. 

How  hard  they  all  work !     They  dig  up  the  ground  with 


Plowing  Rice  Ground. 

mattock  and  spade,  and  all  sorts  of  seeds  are  planted  by 
hand.  The  harvesting  is  done  the  same  way,  and  we  see 
that  it  is  human  muscle  unaided  by  machinery  which  still 
makes  the  greater  part  of  the  bread  of  Japan. 

The  crops  are  of  all  kinds.  The  land  is  exceedingly  fer- 
tile, and  nearly  everything  can  be  raised.  We  see  patches 
of  wheat,  barley,  tobacco,  and  cotton,  and  of  other  plants 
which  are  strange  to  our  eyes.  We  go  through  thousands 
of  rice  fields.  Rice  is  the  most  important  crop  of  the 
country,  for  it  forms  the  chief  food  of  the  people.     The 


JAPANESE   FARMS  AND   FARMERS 


83 


majority  of  the  world's  inhabitants  eat  more  or  less  rice, 
and  for  at  least  one  third  of  them  it  is  the  principal  food. 


"  —  and  set  out  the  young  sprouts  in  the  mud." 

There  are  almost  as  many  different  kinds  of  rice  as  of 
apples,  and  Japanese  rice  is  one  of  the  best.  It  requires 
great  care  in  its  cultivation.  The  grains  must  first  be 
sowed  in  wet  seed  beds.  They  sprout  in  four  or  five  days, 
and  within  a  month  or  six  weeks  are  ready  for  transplant- 
ing. In  the  meantime  the  rice  fields  have  been  flooded,  and 
the  farmers  now  wade  through  the  water  in  their  bare  feet, 
and  set  out  the  young  sprouts  in  the  mud.  They  flood 
the  fields  again  and  again  during  the  summer.  They  keep 
the  rice  free  from  weeds,  and  by  the  latter  part  of  Septem- 
ber the  crop  is  ready  for  harvest. 

Rice  grows  much  like  wheat  or  oats.  At  first  the  plants 
are  a  beautiful  green,  but  as  they  ripen  they  become 
a  bright  yellow.  The  straw  is  then  cut  off  close  to  the 
ground  with  a  sickle,  and  is  tied  up  in  Httle  sheaves  which 
are  hung  over  a  pole  resting  on  legs,  so  that  the  heads  of 
the  rice  do  not  touch  the  ground.     The  grains  are  pulled 


84 


JAPAN 


from  the  stems  by  drawing  the  straw  through  a  rack  which 
has  teeth  like  a  saw,  and  are  then  laid  away  to  be  husked  as 
required.  We  find  rice  fields  in  all  the  lowlands.  There  are 
many  in  Hondo,  Shikoku,  and  Kiushu,  and  also  in  Formosa, 
the  latter  being  farmed  by  the  Chinese  who  live  there. 

On  some  of  the  farms,  after  the  rice  has  been  harvested, 
barley  and  wheat  are  sown  as  a  second  crop,  and  barley 
and  rye  are  often  ground  up  with  rice  and  used  for  food. 
Beans  are  much  raised,  and  on  the  highlands  buckwheat, 
millet,  and  sorghum.  The  sorghum  flour  is  made  into 
dumplings,  and  the  buckwheat  is  used  for  the  manufacture 
of  macaroni. 


Cleaning  Rice. 

We  stop  now  and  then  at  the  tea  fields  which  are  to  be 
found  throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  empire;  and,  as 
we  get  nearer 'Kyoto  (kyo'  to)  in  central  Japan,  we  spend 
a  few  days  in  the  region  of  Uji  (oo'je),  where  the  tea 
grown  is  especially  fine.     One  kind  is  known  by  a  Japanese 


JAPANESE  FARMS  AND   FARMERS 


85 


word  meaning  "jeweled  dew."  It  is  worth  from  five  to 
eight  dollars  a  pound.  It  is  in  Uji  that  much  of  the  tea 
for  the  Emperor  is  raised. 

The  tea  plant  is  a  kind  of  camellia.  It  grows  much  like 
the  American  box.  In  Japan  it  is  carefully  cultivated  in 
hedges  which  rise  to  a  height  of  from  three  to  five  feet, 
and  which  are  usually  about  two  feet  in  width.  In  a  tea 
garden  the  hedges  run  in  parallel  rows  from  one  side  to  the 
other,  the  rows  being  about  as  far  apart  as  those  of  a  po- 
tato field.  The  leaves,  which  form  the  tea  of  commerce, 
look  somewhat  like  those  of  a  rose  bush.  Their  color  is  a 
bright  green. 


"  —  the  hedges  run  in  parallel  rows 


The  plants  produce  their  best  tea  from  the  fifth  to  the 
tenth  year,  and  some  are  said  to  live  longer  than  the  life  of 


S6 


JAPAN 


a  man.  They  are  plucked  several  times  during  each  season, 
the  first  crop  being  the  best.  The  work  is  done  almost  en- 
tirely by  girls,  who  pick  out  the  bright,  new,  green  leaves 

from  the  old,  dark  ones. 
They  put  the  leaves  in 
great  baskets  and  carry 
them  off  on  their  backs. 
The  leaves  are  dried 
in  the  sun,  and  are  then 
steamed  and  dried  again. 
That  part  of  the  crop 
intended  for  export  is 
shipped  to  the  tea  fac- 
tories, where  all  the 
moisture  is  taken  out  by 
rubbing  the  leaves  about 
in  great  iron  bowls  set 
in  ovens.  The  rubbing 
is  done  by  women  and 
men,  under  whose  hands 
the  leaves  change  their 
shape  and  become  the 
little,  hard,  twisted  things 
we  buy  as  tea  in  America.  After  the  leaves  are  thoroughly 
dried,  they  are  sorted  by  Japanese  girls  and  are  then  packed 
in  boxes  for  shipment. 

Another  interesting  occupation,  followed  in  many  locali- 
ties throughout  Japan,  is  the  rearing  of  silkworms.  The 
cocoons  are  spun  by  the  worms,  which  are  fed  upon  mul- 
berry leaves,  and  both  the  cocoons  and  the  raw  silk  reeled 
from  them  are  exported  in  great  quantities  to  Europe  and 
the  United  States.  The  country  has  many  mulberry 
orchards,  and  its  exports  of  raw  silk  and  silk  goods  bring 


Rolling  and  curing  Tea  Leaves. 


COMMERCIAL  AND   INDUSTRIAL  JAPAN  8/ 

in  several  times  as  much  money  as  any  other  article  raised 
or  made  in  Japan. 

On  our  trip  across  the  country  we  learn  that  the  govern- 
ment is  doing  much  to  encourage  the  farmers.  It  has  lec- 
turers who  go  from  district  to  district  teaching  them  which 
crops  will  pay  best  and  how  to  raise  them.  There  are  many 
experiment  stations  ;  and  the  people  raise  all  sorts  of  grains, 
just  as  we  do.  There  are  schools  where  one  can  learn  how 
to  rear  silkworms,  and  the  farmers  have  banks  supported 
by  the  government  at  which  they  can  borrow  money  at  very 
low  rates. 

II.     COMMERCIAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  JAPAN 

RIDING  through  tea  gardens,  mulberry  orchards,  and 
countless  patches  of  cotton  and  rice,  we  come  at  last 
to  Kyoto,  the  old  capital  of  Japan.  It  is  a  beautiful  city 
not  far  from  Lake  Biwa  (be'wa)  and  within  an  hour's  ride 
of  Osaka  (6'za-ka),  the  Chicago  of  Japan.  The  region 
about  Kyoto  and  Osaka  is  one  of  the  busy  parts  of  the 
world.  There  are  factories  of  all  kinds  scattered  over 
the  country,  including  villages  devoted  to  the  making  of 
porcelain,  cotton,  and  silk  goods.  Kyoto  is  famous  for  its 
silks,  and  its  people  have  long  woven  the  most  beautiful 
fabrics  on  the  rudest  of  looms.  They  now  have  also  the 
finest  of  modern  silk  mills  run  by  electricity  supplied  by 
the  falls  of  Lake  Biwa. 

Osaka  has  many  large  cotton  mills,  and  there  are  others 
employing  thousands  of  hands  at  the  seaport  of  Kobe, 
which  by  train  is  only  an  half  hour  away.  We  visit  the 
mills,  and  find  many  children  at  work.  Little  ones  not  as 
old  as  ourselves  are  tending  the  looms,  laboring  all  day  for 


SB  JAPAN 

less  than  one  cent  an  hour.     They  are  bright-eyed  and 
healthy.     They  look  up  and  smile  at  us  as  we  pass. 


Making  Straw  Braid. 

In  other  places  we  go  into  the  factories  where  straw 
braid  is  made,  the  children  sitting  on  the  floor  and  plaiting 
the  straw  into  the  shapes  for  which  it  is  used  for  bonnets 
and  hats.  We  go  through  mills  where  are  made  the  Jap- 
anese rugs  of  jute  and  cotton  to  be  shipped  to  America, 
and  in  Kobe  visit  a  great  ironworks  and  shipyards  where 
enormous  steamers  are  built.  There  are  other  fine  ship- 
building yards  at  Nagasaki  (na'ga-sa'ke)  and  at  Wakamatsu 
(wa'ka-mat'so6)is  a  government  foundry  making  all  sorts 
of  iron  and  steel. 

We  are  surprised  at  the  skill  of  these  people.  They 
do  almost  everything  well,  and  export  goods  of  every  de- 
scription to  all  the  world's  markets.  The  wages  are  much 
lower  than  ours.     The  people  live  simply,  and  it  is  said 


COMMERCIAL   AND   INDUSTRIAL  JAPAN 


89 


that  they  could  easily  thrive  upon  what  we  of  the  United 
States  waste.  In  the  past  everything  was  done  by  hand, 
but  they  are  now  introducing  our  labor-saving  inventions, 
and  are  making  more  and  more  goods  every  year. 

Nevertheless,  much  of  the  manufactures  are  still  pro- 
duced in  small  shops.  There  are  whole  villages  composed 
of  little  establishments  devoted  to  the  making  of  porcelain 
such  as  is  shipped  to  America.  In  these  places  the  clay 
is  modeled  by  hand,  and  the  men  and  women  sit  on  the 
floor  and  paint  the  beautiful  and  curious  designs  found  on 
Japanese  china.  In  other  estabUshments  we  see  boys 
carving  rats,  monkeys,  and  other  figures  out  of  ivory  tusks. 
We  visit  shops  where  Japanese   lanterns  are  made,  and 


Cobbler,  Using  Feet. 


some  in  which  men  and  boys  are  turning  out  umbrellas 
and  fans.  There  are  also  carpenter  shops,  cooper  shops, 
and  woodworkers  of  every  description. 


CARP.  ASIA  —  6 


90 


JAPAN 


As  we  stay  awhile  at  each  place,  we  notice  that  the 
Japanese  laborer  has  what  is  equal  to  four  hands  and 
twenty  fingers.  He  is  usually  barefooted,  and  he  works 
so  much  with  his  feet  that  they  serve  as  two  extra  hands. 
He  can  hold  all  sorts  of  articles  steady  by  pressing  them 
between  the  soles  of  the  feet,  as,  for  instance,  the  cobbler 
who  thus  makes  wooden  shoes.  His  toes  are  equal  to  ten 
extra  fingers,  and  he  can  pick  up  a  peg  or  pin  with  his  toes. 

We  also  observe  that  some  Japanese  methods  of  work 
seem  to  be  the  direct  opposites  of  ours.  There  is  a  car- 
penter planing  a  board.  He  pulls  the  plane  toward  him 
instead  of  pushing  it  from  him  as  our  carpenters  do ;  and 
when  he  uses  the  drawing  knife,   he  pushes  instead  of 


Japanese  Cooper. 


pulling,  as  would  seem  to  us  to  be  the  natural  way.  The 
American  begins  his  house  with  the  foundation.  The  Jap- 
anese builder  makes  the  roof  first.     He  puts  it  together 


COMMERCIAL  AND   INDUSTRIAL  JAPAN 


91 


in  pieces  upon  a  scaffolding  of  poles,  and  then  fills  in  the 
framework  beneath.  The  logs  are  often  brought  to  the 
building,  and  the  boards  sawed  out  by  hand  as  they  are 
needed.  In  the  older  lumberyards  of  Japan  the  sawmill 
is  an  almond-eyed,  barelegged  man,  who  stands  on  top  of 
a  log  or  beneath  it  and 
pulls  or  pushes  his  saw 
until  he  has  cut  the  log 
into  boards. 

We  spend  some  tfme 
in  Osaka,  the  commer- 
cial capital  of  the  west- 
ern part  of  the  empire. 
It  is  as  large  as  Phila- 
delphia and  has  many 
manufacturing  vil- 
lages in  its  suburbs. 
It  has  cotton  and  silk 
mills,  and  factories  for 
making  matting  and 
rugs.  It  has  many  great  wholesale  establishments  and  also 
exporting  houses  which  ship  goods  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 

During  our  stay  here  we  learn  much  about  Japan's 
foreign  trade.  We  are  told  that  the  commerce  of  the 
empire  now  amounts  to  about  five  hundred  million  dollars 
a  year,  and  that  it  includes  many  articles  which  are  shipped 
not  only  to  China  and  other  parts  of  Asia,  but  also  to  the 
various  countries  of  Europe  and  the  United  States.  As  we 
go  through  the  factories,  the  men  often  tell  us  that  they  are 
working  on  goods  intended  for  us ;  and  we  learn  that  the 
United  States  is  Japan's  best  customer,  and  that  it  sells  us 
millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  goods  every  year.  Is  it  not 
strange  to  think  that  many  of  the  Japanese  children  arid 


Sawmill. 


92  JAPAN 

grown-ups  are  all  the  time  working  to  supply  some  of  our 
wants,  and  that  at  the  same  time  we  are  making  things 
which  are  sent  back  to  them  in  exchange  ! 

We  buy  of  Japan  much  more  than  she  buys  of  us,  and 
her  trade  with  us  is  increasing.  A  great  deal  of  the  tea 
we  drink  comes  from  Japanese  bushes,  and  much  of  the 


Making  Matting. 

silk  goods  made  in  our  mills  is  from  cocoons  reared  in 
Japan.  Many  of  our  houses  are  furnished  with  Japanese 
rugs,  and  our  most  beautiful  mattings  come  from  Japan. 
On  the  other  hand,  we  are  shipping  to  Japan  many  differ- 
ent kinds  of  machinery.  We  are  sending  her  leather,  iron 
goods,  and  kerosene,  while  much  of  the  raw  cotton  used  in 
her  mills  is  raised  in  our  southern  states. 


COMMERCIAL  AND   INDUSTRIAL  JAPAN  93 

There  is  one  export  in  which  Japan  surpasses  all  other 
countries.  This  is  camphor,  a  drug  of  which  we  buy 
many  tons  every  year.  There  are  camphor  groves  scat- 
tered throughout  the  central  islands,  and  great  forests  of 
camphor  trees  in  Formosa.  In  the  village  of  Tosa  in 
western  Japan  is  a  group  of  thirteen  trees  over  one  hun- 
dred years  old,  which  it  is  beheved  will  produce  about 
forty  thousand  pounds  of  crude  camphor. 

The  camphor  tree  is  an  evergreen  of  the  laurel  family. 
Its  trunk  is  somewhat  like  that  of  an  oak.  It  grows  to  be 
fifteen  feet  in  diameter,  rising  twenty  or  thirty  feet  from 
the  ground  before  the  branches  begin.  Some  trees  are 
several  hundred  years  old. 

In  the  production  of  camphor  the  trees  are  cut  down 
and  chopped  up  into  chips,  and  the  chips  are  then  boiled 
until  the  sap  and  oil  in  them  rise  up  in  a  steam.  This  is 
conducted  through  pipes  kept  cool  by  cold  water  running 
over  them.  As  the  steam  strikes  the  cold  pipes  it  con- 
denses and  forms  a  deposit  of  oil  and  camphor,  from 
which,  the  oil  being  pressed  out,  comes  the  camphor  of 
commerce. 

From  Osaka  a  half  hour  by  rail  takes  us  to  Kobe,  the 
chief  seaport  of  central  Japan.  It  lies  at  the  entrance  of 
the  famed  Inland  Sea,  through  which  we  pass  on  our  way 
to  Korea.  We  travel  in  a  Japanese  steamer,  floating  among 
mountainous  islands,  the  hills  of  which  are  terraced  so  that 
they  look  like  green  steps  rising  from  the  water.  There 
are  many  black-roofed  villages  dotting  the  shores.  We 
pass  through  narrow  channels,  moving  in  and  out  through 
Japanese  craft ;  and  at  last  find  ourselves  at  anchor  in  the 
mountain-locked  harbor  of  Nagasaki,  the  westernmost  port 
of  Kiushu.  Here  we  take  coal,  hundreds  of  half-naked 
little  Japanese  women  passing  it  in  small  baskets  from  one 


94 


KOREA 


to  another  from  a  barge  on  one  side  of  the  steamer,  until  it 
is  at  last  stored  in  the  hold. 

Our  ship  is  called  the  Tokyo  Maru.  It  is  lighted  by 
electricity  and  heated  by  steam,  and  is  almost  as  comfort- 
able as  that  in  which  we  crossed  the  Pacific.  The  sailors 
and  officers  are  Japanese,  and  we  have  many  fellow-Japanese 
passengers  on  board.  We  are  almost  as  sorry  as  they  at 
leaving  Japan,  and  as  our  ship  steams  out  into  the  ocean  we 
look  longingly  back,  and  with  them  cry  out :  "  Sayonara  " 
(si-yon-a'ra),  the  Japanese  word  meaning  "  Farewell." 


"  Sayonara  —  Farewell.' 


3>»;c 


12.  KOREA,  THE  HERMIT  NATION 

A  SHORT  sail  from  Nagasaki  brings  us  to  Korea,  or 
Chosen,  as  the  country  has  been  called,  since  1910, 
when  it  was  made  a  part  of'  the  Japanese  Empire.  We 
land  at  Fusan  and  travel  northward  by  railway  to  Seoul 
(se-ool'),  the  capital  city.  The  country  is  very  mountainous, 
with  many  streams,  and  we  are  told  that  it  contains  gold. 


THE  HERMIT  NATION 


95 


silver,  copper,  and  lead,  and  that  in  the  north  there  are 
large  deposits  of  coal.  The  soil  seems  to  be  fertile.  We 
pass  fields  of  rice,  cotton,  and  tobacco,  and  find  that  wheat, 
barley,  and  millet  are  grown  farther  north.  Fruits  of 
many  kinds  are  brought  to  the  train,  and  we  buy  ripe  red 
persimmons  as  big  as  the  largest  tomato  and  eat  them  with 
spoons.  The  climate  is  delightful,  and 
we  do  not  wonder  that  the  people  are 
proud  of  their  country. 

On  our  way  we  pass  many  villages  of 
mud  and  stone  huts  roofed  with  straw 
inhabited  by  farmers,  and  now  and  then 
go  through  a  town  made  up  of  houses  of 
much  the  same  nature.  There  are 
white-clad  figures  at  work  in  the  field, 
and  stopping  off  at  one  of  the  towns,  we 
find  ourselves  among  some  of  the  queer- 
est people  we  shall  see  in  our  travels 
through  Asia. 

They  are  not  Chinese,  and  still  they 
are  yellow.  They  are  not  Japanese, 
although  their  eyes  are  like  almonds  in 
shape.  They  are  taller  than  any  of  the 
Asiatics  we  have  in  America,  and  their  faces  are  kinder 
and  somewhat  more  stolid.  They  have  cheek  bones  as 
high  as  those  of  an  Indian,  and  their  noses  are  almost  as 
flat  as  a  negro's.  They  are  stronger  than  the  men  we  saw 
in  Japan.  Here  comes  one  trotting  along  with  a  cartload 
of  pottery  tied  to  his  back.  During  our  travels  through 
the  mountainous  parts  of  the  interior,  men  of  that  kind  will 
carry  our  trunks  weighing  hundreds  of  pounds  for  a  few 
cents  a  day.  They  will  fasten  them  to  an  easel-like  frame- 
work of  forked  sticks  which  hangs  from  their  shoulders, 


—  with  a  cartload  of 
pottery  tied  to  his 
back." 


96  KOREA 

and  will  trot  up  the  hills  as  though  they  were  loaded  with 
feathers.  They  are  Korean  porters,  who,  notwithstanding 
the  railroads,  still  carry  much  of  the  freight. 

As  we  continue  our  travels  we  find  that  Korea  has  many 
classes  of  people  corresponding  to  those  which  were  here 
before  the  Japanese  took  possession  of  the  country  at  the 
close  of  the  Russian-Japanese  war  and  introduced  western 
ways.  For  ages  prior  to  that  time  the  nation  was  inde- 
pendent, being  under  a  king  and  the  nobles,  who  lived  in 
great  luxury  by  taxing  and  oppressing  the  rest  of  the  people. 
They  strutted  about  in  gorgeous  silk  gowns  and  spent  their 
whole  time  in  smoking  and  chatting,  considering  it  beneath 
their  dignity  to  do  any  manual  labor. 

In  addition  to  them,  there  were  other  classes  who  dressed 
in  gowns  of  cotton  and  silk.  These  were  government 
clerks,  scholars,  farmers,  merchants,  and  laborers,  each 
class  of  which  had  its  own  costume  and  ways.  Even  to-day 
most  of  the  people  wear  gowns,  and  many  of  the  men  in 
the  fields  are  clad  in  white  cottons.  Others  have  on  full 
pantaloons  tied  in  at  the  ankles  and  stockings  of  cloth  so 
padded  that  they  almost  burst  the  low  straw  shoes  which 
they  wear.  We  see  gowns  of  light  green  and  rose-pink, 
and  some  as  blue  as  the  sky. 

But  queerest  of  all  to  our  eyes  is  the  headgear.  Some 
of  the  men  wear  bowls  of  white  straw  as  big  as  umbrellas, 
and  others  have  their  heads  almost  bare  save  for  the  little 
hats  of  black  horsehair  which  sit  on  the  crown  and  are 
fastened  by  ribbons  tied  under  the  chin.  The  horsehair 
hat  is  that  of  a  gentleman,  and  it  is  prized  more  highly 
than  any  other  article  of  dress.  It  is  so  light  that  it  seldom 
weighs  more  than  two  ounces,  and  according  to  its  shape 
one  may  know  the  class  of  its  owner. 

Indeed,    here    every    style    of    hat    has    its    meaning. 


THE   HERMIT  NATION 


97 


He  wishes  to  appear 
humble." 


Observe  that  one  of  bright  straw  which 
is  coming  towards  us.  .  It  is  as  big  as 
a  parasol  and  seems  to  be  walking  off 
with  the  man  who  is  half  hidden  be- 
neath it.  That  hat  is  worn  by  a 
mourner,  and  for  three  years  he  can 
use  no  other  kind.  He  wishes  to  ap- 
pear humble,  for  he  believes  that  the 
gods  are  angry  with  him  in  that  they 
caused  the  death  of  his  father.  For 
the  same  reason  he  is  clad  in  that 
gown  of  light  gray  and  holds  a  screen 
in  front  of  his  face  to  show  his  great 
grief.  If  at  the  end  of  his  mourn- 
ing his  mother  should  die,  he  must 
mourn  three  years  longer,  and  dur- 
ing the  time  he  will  not  dare  to  go 
to  parties,  and  he  should  not  do  business  or  marry. 
But  here  come  two  men  with  no  hats  at  all.     They  part 

their  hair  in  the  mid- 
dle and  it  hangs  in 
long  braids  down 
their  backs.  See 
how  meek  they  look 
and  how  they  slink 
along  half  ashamed. 
They  are  Korean 
bachelors,  and  until 
they  are  married 
they  will  have  no 
rights  that  any  one 
is  bound  to  respect. 
Korean  Children.  According  to  the  old 


98 


KOREA 


custom,  married  men  only  might  have  hats  in  Korea,  and  it 
was  only  they  who  had  the  right  to  put  up  their  hair  in  a 
top-knot  on  the  crown  of  the  head.  Many  unmarried  men 
and  boys  still  wear  their  hair  down  their  backs.  They  tie 
it  with  ribbons,  and  look  more  like  girls  than  boys. 

We  ask  the  guides  to  show  us  the  women.     He  tells  us 
that  Korean  ladies  are  seldom  seen  on  the  streets,  and  that 

it  is  only  lately  that  they  have 
gone  out  at  all  except  in 
closed  carriages.  He  points 
out,  however,  some  queer- 
looking  creatures  who  have 
green  cloaks  thrown  over 
their  heads  which  they  hold 
tight  in  front  of  the  faces 
with  just  a  crack  for  the  eyes. 
These  are  women  of  the 
poorer  classes,  many  of  whom 
turn  their  backs  as  we  see 
them  at  work  in  the  fields. 

All  these  strange  customs 
are  changing,  and  the  Kore- 
ans under  the  Japanese  have 
begun  to  adopt  modern  ways.  Many  of  the  town  people 
now  cut  their  hair  short,  and  the  public  schoolboys  are  re- 
quired to  do  so.  The  women  are  gradually  coming  out  of 
their  seclusion,  and  we  shall  meet  many  girls  on  the 
streets  going  to  school. 

But  we  are  now  approaching  the  Korean  capital,  and 
can  see  its  walls  climbing  the  hills  in  the  distance.  The 
city  lies  in  a  basin  surrounded  by  mountains  which  in  some 
places  are  as  arid  and  ragged  as  the  wildest  peaks  of  the 
Rockies,  and  in  others  as  green  as  the  Blue  Ridge  or  the 


A  Korean  Lady. 


c 
lOO  KOREA 

Adirondacks.  It  is  surrounded  by  a  great  wall  as  tall  as  a 
three-story  house  and  so  broad  at  the  top  that  two  auto- 
mobiles abreast  could  easily  be  driven  upon  it.  The  wall 
was  built  for  the  defense  of  the  city  about  five  hundred 
years  ago,  but  it  is  in  good  conditioil  to-day.  The  railroad 
station  is  outside  the  gates,  and  before  going  in  we  chmb 
to  the  top  of  the  wall  for  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  city. 

What  a  curious  sight !  Imagine  three  hundred  thousand 
people  living  in  one-story  houses ;  picture  sixty  thousand 
houses  most  of  which  are  of  stones  and  mud  with  roofs  of 
straw  thatch !  Think  of  a  city  where  the  men  are  dressed 
in  long  gowns,  and  where,  until  recently,  the  ladies  were 
never  seen  on  the  streets,  and  you  have  some  idea  of 
Seoul. 

As  we  look  over  the  city,  it  makes  us  think  of  a  meadow 
filled  with  haycocks  interspersed  here  and  there  with  tiled 
barns  and  with  groups  of  more  imposing  barns  in  a  park 
in  the  center  and  also  under  the  mountains  at  the  back. 
The  haycocks  are  the  huts  of  the  poor,  the  heavy  roofed 
barns  are  the  homes  of  the  rich,  and  the  great  wooded  in- 
closures  surround  the  king's  palaces.  The  rich  live  in 
large  yards  back  from  the  street,  and  their  houses  are 
much  like  those  of  Japan.  The  rooms  are  separated  by 
movable  walls  backed  with  oiled  paper ;  they  are  heated  by 
flues  which  run  under  the  floor.  The  huts  are  built  in  the 
shape  of  a  horseshoe,  with  one  heel  of  the  shoe  resting  on 
the  street  and  the  other  running  back  into  the  yard.  The 
doors  of  such  houses  are  often  so  low  that  one  must  stoop 
to  go  in,  and  at  the  foot  of  each  door  is  a  hole  cut  out  for 
the  dog.  Every  Korean  house  has  its  own  dog,  which 
knows  a  foreigner  by  his  smell  and  barks  at  him  as  he 
goes  through  the  street. 

But  let  us  take  our  field  glasses  and  look  again  at  the 


BUSINESS  AMONG  THE   KOREANS 


^o,i 


city  below  us.     As  we  examine  it  in  detail,  we  can  see  here 

and  there  many  foreign  buildings  rising  above  the  thatched 

huts.     Some  of  these  are 

government  offices,  and 

others   are   schools.     In 

the  center  is  a  red  brick 

structure  devoted  to  the 

Y.M.C.A.    which    was 

built  for  the  Koreans  by 

an  American,  and  at  one 

side  of  the  town  close  to 

the  wall  is  a  section  filled 

with  Japanese  houses  in 

which  are  many  Japanese 

stores.     Other  modern       "-a  hole  is  cut  out  for  the  dog-" 

buildings  are  now  going  up.  The  whole  city  is  changing, 
and  the  time  may  come  when  the  thatched  huts  will  dis- 
appear and  buildings  like  those  of  Japan  take  their  places. 


5»ic 


13.     BUSINESS   AMONG   THE   KOREANS. 
EDUCATION 


OUR  travels  this  morning  will  be  in  the  city  of  Seoul. 
A  Korean  who  speaks  English  acts  as  our  guide. 
We  take  chairs  for  one  part  of  the  journey,  and  for  others 
dismiss  our  coolies  and  ride  about  on  the  electric  street 
cars.  We  go  through  the  wide  avenues  which  cut  the 
city  in  quarters,  and  spend  some  time  wandering  about  the 
side  streets.  We  start  out  early,  and  for  the  first  hour  or 
so  find  the  town  full  of  smoke.  Each  of  the  huts  has  a 
chimney  which  juts  forth  into  the  street  about  two  feet 


ip? 


KOREA 


'*  We  ride  about  on  the  electric  street  cars." 


from  the  ground.     The  people  use  straw  for  fuel,  and  the 

smoke  is  now  pouring  forth,  for  all  Seoul  is  cooking  its 

breakfast.     It  makes  our  eyes  smart,  and  we  have  to  look 

sharp  to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  the 

porters  and  others  who  are  going  to 

the  markets  at  the  foot  of  the  chief 

business  street.    We  follow  the  crowd, 

and  soon  find  ourselves  near  the  gate 

through  which  we  came  into  Seoul  and 

at  one  of  the  busiest  places  in  Korea. 

Here  are  thousands  of  men  in  all 

sorts  of  costumes  buying  and  selling. 

There  are  booths  devoted  to  rice,  and 

others  in  which  corn,  wheat,  and  barley 

„.  ,.     „     are  sold.     Some  of   the  market  men 

"  — selling  candies." 

have  fish  fresh  from  the  sea,  and  some 
sell  beef,  mutton,  venison,  and  all  kinds  of  game.     We  see 


BUSINESS  AMONG  THE  KOREANS 


103 


many  fresh  vegetables,  and  not  a  few  peddlers  who  have 
baskets  of  red  peppers  before  them.  Little  boys  go  about 
selling  candies  which  they  carry  on  trays  attached  to  their 
waists  by  ropes  over  the  shoulders.  Other  little  ones  have 
chestnuts,  which  they  roast  upon  pans  of  charcoal  and  sell 
piping  hot. 

Many   of  the  articles  in  the   market   seem  to  us  very 
curious.     Eggs,  for   instance,    are  sold  by  the  stick,  ten 

end  and  wrapped  around  with 

tightly    that    they    stand    out 

A   stick   of   ten  eggs   brings 

other  odd  things  are  the  to- 


being  laid  end  to 
long    straw     so 
straight    and   stiff, 
five  cents.     Among 
bacco  pipes,  most  of 
ourselves.     To  have  a 
gentleman ;  it  shows 
he  cannot  reach  out  to 
stem  in  his  mouth,  and 
some  one  to  light  it.    And 
used  for  cooking  and  eat- 
shine    like    gold,    and   are 
tiful  wares  in  the  market, 
the  white  gown  and  black  hat 


which  have  stems  as  long  as 
long  pipe    is  a  sign  of  a 
that  he  has  a  servant,  for 
the  bowl  with  the   pipe 
therefore  must  have 
then    the    brass    bowls 
ing   utensils!     They 
among  the  most  beau- 
See   that    man   in 
with  those  wooden 
They    look    like 


clubs  piled  up  around  him ! 
baseball  bats,  and  we  wonder  ..^^^^^  if  our  great  Ameri 
can  game  has  not  come  out  to  sold  by  the  Korea.  We  ask 
the  guide,  and  he  tells  us  that  stick."  ^^^  ^i^-^  Yiqvq  holds 
the  place  that  the  flatiron  has  in  America.  The  family 
washing  is  done  in  cold  water,  and  dried  on  the  grass. 
Each  garment  is  then  taken  into  the  house  and  wrapped 
around  a  stick.  This  is  then  laid  upon  the  floor  where  one 
or  two  women  squat  down  before  it  and  pound  upon  the 
cloth  with  these  wooden  clubs  until  they  make  it  as  smooth 
and  as  glossy  as  could  be  done  in  an  American  laundry. 


104 


KOREA 


Our  guide  points  to  his  own  gown  of  snow  white,  and 
says  it  was  ironed  that  way.  As  we  go  on  through  the 
city  we  hear  the  song  of  these  ironing  clubs.  It  is  a 
musical  rat-tat-tat  which  may  be  heard  at  every  hour 
of   the   day    and   during   the   greater   part  of   the  night. 

The  clothes  are 
ripped  apart  before 
they  are  washed. 
It  takes  a  long  time 
to  iron  them,  and 
after  that  they  must 
be  sewed  together 
again,  so  you  see 
the  Korean  women 
have  plenty  to  do. 

Leaving  the 
market,  we  walk 
through  the  crowd 
up  the  street  until 
we  come  to  a  little 
temple  which  con- 
tains the  great  bell 
formerly  used  for 
opening  and  closing 
the  gates.  This  is 
the  business  center 
of  the  native  city,  the  sti*eets  surrounding  it  being  thronged 
with  merchants  and  peddlers,  with  dandies  and  loafers, 
from  sunrise  to  sunset.  The  stores  are  wide  open,  and  the 
merchants  sit  inside  them,  wearing  white  gowns  and  black 
hats.  Most  of  them  smoke  as  they  wait  for  the  customers. 
Running  in  from  the  streets  here  and  there  are  little 
bazaars  or  covered  alleys  in  which  are  more  stores.     The 


Four  Gentlemen  of  Korea. 


BUSINESS   AMONG  THE   KOREANS  10$ 


ling  Clothes  in  Korea. 


Main  Street  of  Seoul. 


CARP.  ASIA  —  7 


I06  KOREA 

merchants  sit  cross-legged  on  ledges  in  front,  and  bring 
out  the  goods  from  behind  as  the  customers  order.  They 
seem  in  no  hurry  to  sell,  and  are  content  to  smoke  and 
chat  if  no  buyers  come.  They  do  not  like  to  sell  much  to 
one  man  ;  for  they  say  that  if  they  should  dispose  of  all 
their  goods,  they  could  not  keep  open  their  stores. 

There  are  many  small  shops  scattered  throughout  the 
business  streets.     There  are  sections  devoted  to  the  making 

of   furniture  and   es- 
tk^     ^1^  pecially  to  the  brass- 

^^^^^^^^     ^^SfeBBB^^''^   which    these    people 
^B*^B(P^  are  famous.     We  find 

many  stores  where 
jewelers  are  working, 
and  some  in  which 
men  are  carving  seals, 

Korean  Shoes.  .  ^^      ^      . 

for  every  Korean  has 

a  seal  in  order  to  stamp  or  sign  any  paper  he  writes. 

In  addition  to  its  native  shops  Seoul  has  now  many 
Japanese  stores.  The  Japanese  are  opening  mercantile 
establishments  in  all  the  cities,  and  they  do  much  of  the 
business.  They  control  to  a  great  extent  the  exports 
and  imports,  and  collect  all  the  customs.  From  them  we 
learn  that  the  trade  of  Korea  is  growing,  and  that  it  now 
amounts  to  some  millions  of  dollars  a  year.  The  principal 
exports  are  rice,  beans,  cowhides,  and  cattle,  and  also  gold 
and  coal.  The  largest  gold  mines  of  the  country  are 
owned  by  Americans,  who  were  the  first  to  mine  here  with 
modem  machinery. 

But  suppose  we  visit  the  schools.  They  have  been 
greatly  changed  within  recent  years,  and  those  most  com- 
mon to-day  are  much  like  the  schools  we  saw  in  Japan. 


(107) 


Korean  Schoolboys. 


io8 


KOREA 


The  children  have  uniforms,  and  each  boy  has  a  little  brass 
badge  on  his  cap  which  marks  the  school  to  which  he 
belongs.  The  boys  wear  their  hair  short,  instead  of  in 
long  braids  down  their  backs,  and  the  girls  have  no  veils, 
which  is  contrary  to  the  ideas  of  the  older  Koreans.  The 
government  school  buildings  have  furniture  like  ours,  and 

each  has  its  gymnasium 
where  the  children  play 
and  exercise  every  day. 
The  Koreans  are  intel- 
ligent, and  most  of  the 
girls  and  boys  are  good 
students. 

The  Japanese  are 
building  roads  every- 
where. They  have 
railroads  and  telegraph 
lines  connecting  all  the 
chief  towns  and  have 
estabHshed  post  offices. 
They  are  also  improv- 
ing the  harbors  and 
building  lighthouses 
along  the  coast.  The 
capital  is  now  lighted 
by  electricity,  and  one  can  telephone  from  there  to  Che- 
mulpo (che-mul'p5)  and  other  towns.  Daily  newspapers 
are  now  printed  in  Seoul,  and  the  people  are  alive  to  the 
advantages  of  the  new  civiHzation. 

The  Japanese  have  long  felt  they  must  have  Korea,  as  it 
is  so  close  to  their  country  that  it  might  form  a  good  place 
for  any  other  nation  to  send  in  an  army  to  fight  against 
them.     This  would  be  especially  so  with  the  Chinese  or 


Korean  Cnildren. 


BUSINESS   AMONG   THE   KOREANS  I09 

Russians,  whose  possessions  are  not  far  away.  For  this 
reason,  after  the  Russian-Japanese  war  was  over,  the 
Japanese  insisted  that  they  should  have  control  of  Korea, 
and  it  is  now  a  part  of  their  empire.  They  appoint  the 
police  and  really  govern  the  country.  They  have  built 
several  great  barracks  at  Yongsan,  near  Seoul,  where  a 
large  force  of  Japanese  soldiers  is  quartered. 

Leaving  the  capital,  we  make  some  trips  here  and  there 
over  the  country,  passing  through  thousands  of  rice  fields, 


ft 

^^■' ' 

.>-., 

^kaHB^EI^H^^^^^H 

■^ 

Wk 

^^jjgtllAL^S^L 

MoMuMwI^^iF'^  W''' ' 

]^^B^Hb 

IS 

bh 

^wW"' 

ViiLiW 

^Hh 

Plowing  in  Korea. 

and  now  and  then  skirting  the  wilds  into  which  we  dare 
not  go  after  dark  for  fear  of  the  tigers.  We  stay  at 
night  at  Korean  Inns,  where  we  sleep  on  brick  floors, 
half  baked  by  the  straw  fires  of  the  flues  which  run  under 
them. 

We  travel  on  ponies  and  spend  much  time  in  the 
mountains.  We  visit  the  copper  mines  and  the  gold 
mines,  and  then  go  to  Songdo  and  Pingyang,  two  large 
cities,  the  scenes  of  which  are  not  unlike  those  of  Seoul. 
From  Pingyang  we  take  the  railroad  and  travel  northward 


CHINA 


III 


through  much  beautiful  scenery  to  Wiju  (we-joo)  on  the 
Yahi  (ya-loo')  River.  We  are  now  on  the  edge  of  Man- 
churia and  ready  to  enter  the  great  world  of  China. 


oii^c 


14.     CHINA 

THE  Chinese  occupy  about  one  fourth  of  all  Asia. 
Their  possessions  consist  of  China  proper  and  the 
vast  tributary  provinces  of  Mongolia,  Tibet,  and  Chinese 
Turkestan,  comprising  all  together  an  area  larger  than  Eu- 
rope. This  country  is  bordered  on  the  south  by  Indo- 
China  and  India,  on  the  north  by  Siberia,  and  on  the  west 
by  other  provinces  of  Asiatic  Russia.  On  the  east,  for 
three  thousand  miles,  it  is  washed  by  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
from  which  the  land  slopes  gradually  up- 
ward until  it  ends  in  the  vast  plateaus 
which  form  the  heart  of  the  continent. 

The  land  is  thus  one  of  mountains  and 
plains.  It  has  several  low  ranges  running 
across  it,  and  between  them  mighty  rivers 
which  have  so  many  branches  that  China 
proper  is  one  of  the  best  watered  parts  of 
the  earth.  The  Yangtze  Kiang  or  Blue 
River  is  to  China  what  the  Mississippi  is 
to  our  country.  It  is  navigable  for  steam 
vessels  for  one  thousand  miles  from  its 
mouth,  and  the  Hoang  Ho  or  Yellow 
River,  which  sluggishly  flows  through  the  Great  Plain 
farther  north,  although  not  navigable  in  places  from  its 
wide  shifting  channel,  is  almost  as  large.  In  addition  to 
these,  there  are  other  great  rivers  and  countless  canals,  so 


Boy  in  Winter 
Dress. 


112 


CHINA 


that  most  parts  of  the  lowland  can  be  reached  upon  boats. 
Moreover,  the  country  is  such  that  railroads  can  be  easily 
built.  Within  recent  years  some  long  trunk  lines  have 
been  constructed,  and  in  time  China  will  have  a  network 
of  steel  tracks  such  as  we  now  have  at  home.  The  cars 
are  quite  comfortable,  and  many  of  our  journeys  will  be 
made  upon  them. 

China  has   mighty   resources.      Its   mountains   contain 
rich   beds    of    minerals,    including    gold,    silver,    nickel, 

copper,  and  tin ;  and  its  coal 
and  iron  deposits  are  un- 
equaled  by  those  of  our 
country.  The  soil  is  so  rich 
in  many  places  that  it  yields 
three  crops  a  year.  Much 
of  the  land  is  irrigated,  and 
the  rich  earth  washings  of 
the  mountains,  brought  down 
by  the  rivers,  are  carried 
through  the  canals  over  the 
land,  making  it  produce 
many  fold.  Indeed,  China 
has  such  varied  resources 
that  if  it  were  walled  off  from 
the  rest  of  the  world,  its 
people  could  satisfy  their 
every  need  from  within  their 
own  boundaries. 
In  addition  to  this,  the  country  has  an  excellent  climate, 
although  this  differs,  according  to  the  locality,  as  much  as 
that  of  the  United  States.  On  the  high  plateaus  of  the 
west  and  north  it  is  as  cold  and  dry  as  in  any  part  of 
the  Rockies,  and  in  the  south  it  is  as  warm  and  moist  as 


On  the  coid  highlands  the  people 
wear  sheepskins  in  winter." 


GENERAL  VIEW  II3 

Louisiana  or  Florida.  Wheat,  barley,  and  millet  thrive  in 
the  north,  while  in  the  south  rice  and  cotton  are  among  the 
principal  crops.  On  the  cold  highlands  the  people  wear 
sheepskins  in  winter,  and  on  the  southeastern  coast  they 
can  go  barefooted  at  Christmas. 

The  rainfall  is  varied.  The  winds  blowing  in  from  the 
ocean  meet  the  cold  air  of  Tibet,  and  drop  their  burden  of 
moisture,  so  that  the  main  body  of  China  has  plenty  of 
water.  Going  on  westward,  the  still  colder  air  wrings  the 
winds  dryer  and  dryer  until,  when  they  reach  the  high 
plateaus,  they  have  no  more  rain  to  give.  Hence  we  find 
there  vast  deserts  such  as  those  of  Gobi  and  Tibet  and 
the  arid  lands  farther  west. 

You  would  naturally  expect  a  rich  country,  walled  in  by 
mountains  and  seas  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  to  have  a 
race  and  civilization  of  its  own.  This  is  the  case  with 
China.  It  contains  more  than  four  hundred  million 
people  who  have  a  character  and  customs  unlike  those  of 
other  races,  and  who  had  created  a  civilization  long  before 
the  time  of  Athens  or  Rome.  This  civilization,  until 
within  a  few  years,  was  not  affected  by  ours,  but  now 
the  Chinese  are  adopting  the  best  things  of  Europe  and 
the  United  States.  They  are  building  railroads,  introduc- 
ing machinery,  and  making  other  changes  similar  to  those 
we  saw  in  Japan.  Nevertheless,  the  old  China  is  still 
everywhere  present,  and  our  travels  will  be  like  going 
through  a  new  world. 

We  shall  begin  our  investigations  in  the  northern  part 
of  China.  We  go  back  to  Seoul  and  from  there  to 
Chemulpo,  where  we  take  ship  for  Tientsin  (te-en'tsen')  the 
chief  port  of  North  China.  The  distance  across  the  Yellow 
Sea  is  not  long,  but  we  stop  on  the  way  at  Dairen  and  Port 
Arthur  in  Manchuria,  two  little  cities  now  controlled  by  Japan. 


1 14  CHINA 

From  there  we  steam  on  not  far  from  the  coast  and  enter  China 
by  the  little  Pei  (pe'e)  River,  awaiting  high  tide  to  take  us 
over  the  bar  at  its  mouth.  The  stream  is  narrow  and  wind- 
ing, the  land  is  flat,  and  the  Pei  curves  in  and  out  like  a 
snake  so  thatVe  can  see  both  in  front  and  behind  us  the 
white  sails  of  Chinese  boats  marching,  as  it  were,  over  the 
fields  as  they  move  along  through  the  river. 


A  Chinese  Family. 

We  are  now  in  the  Great  Plain,  which  extends  from  the 
valley  of  the  Yangtze  to  the  mountains  north  of  Peking 
(pe-king'),  skirting  the  ocean  and  running  back  into  the 
interior,  in  places,  as  far  as  four  hundred  miles.  The  soil 
here  is  exceedingly  rich,  and  it  is  said  that  it  supports 
more  people  than  any  other  area  of  like  size  on  the  globe. 
It  is  largely  composed  of  a  yellow  earth  known  as  loess, 


GENERAL  VIEW  Il5 

which  contains  lime  and  decayed  vegetable  matter.  There 
are  great  beds  of  it  in  the  mountains  farther  west  which 
are  supposed  to  have  been  made  by  the  dust  blown  from 
the  highlands  of  central  Asia.  These  loess  beds  are  very 
porous,  and  the  winds  carry  their  dust  over  the  Great  Plain  ; 
and  the  rivers  also  aid  in  distributing  it,  making  the  land 
wonderfully  fertile.  The  Chinese  think  so  much  of  this 
fat  yellow  soil  that  one  of  the  titles  of  their  Emperor,  who 
formerly  ruled,  was  "  Hoang-Ti,"  which  means  "  Lord  of 
the  Loess,"  and  they  chose  yellow  as  the  Imperial  color. 

Most  of  the  Great  Plain  is  low,  and  as  flat  as  a  floor. 
We  can  see  for  miles  on  all  sides.  The  country  is  made  up 
of  farms  without  fences,  and  spotted  here  and  there  with 
small  clumps  of  trees  surrounding  the  mud  villages  which 
are  the  homes  of  the  farmers. 

The  banks  of  the  Pei  River  are  dotted  with  little  cities 
and  villages.  We  often  float  close  to  the  houses.  They  are 
almost  all  of  one  story,  and  some  of  them  are  not  more  than 
fifteen  feet  square.  Their  walls  are  sun-dried  bricks,  and 
their  low,  slanting  roofs  are  of  reeds  plastered  with  mud. 
The  houses  are  built  close  to  the  streets,  which  are  narrow 
dirt  roads  without  sidewalks.  In  some  places  the  houses 
extend  out  over  the  banks  of  the  river  in  such  a  way  that 
the  floods  often  wash  out  the  foundations  and  drop  them, 
families  and  all,  down  into  the  water. 

The  streets  of  these  towns  are  swarming  with  yellow- 
skinned  people.  We  see  merchants  in  black  satin  caps 
and  gay-colored  silk  gowns,  and  workmen  in  shirts  and 
wide-flapping  pantaloons  of  blue  cotton.  Their  queues 
are  tied  up  to  be  out  of  the  way.  We  see  bareheaded 
women  in  coats  of  green,  purple,  and  crimson,  below 
which  are  bright-colored  trousers  and  little  silk  shoe^. 
There  are  almond-eyed  children  dressed  like  their  parents, 


GENERAL  VIEW  II/ 

some  playing  about,  and  others  watching  the  steamer  go 
by.  The  poorer  boys  are  more  than  half  naked,  and  we 
tremble  at  their  danger  as  we  see  them  wrestling  together, 
rolling  each  other  over  and  over  at  the  very  edge  of  the 
water. 

As  we  go  on,  we  observe  that  the  roads  which  run  from 
village  to  village  are  lined  with  people  of  all  classes,  con- 
ditions, and  ages.  There  are  half-naked  porters,  who  go  on 
the  trot  as  they  carry  great  loads  balanced  on  the  ends  of 
poles  which  rest  on  their  shoulders,  and  we  now  and  then 
pass  ladies  on  their  way  to  call  on  the  neighbors.  Their 
feet  are  too  small  for  them  to  walk  comfortably,  and  they 
ride  on  the  backs  of  their  menservants.  They  wear  red  or 
pink  slippers,  and  their  little  feet  bob  up  and  down  out  of 
silk  pantaloons  as  they  hold  on  to  the  necks  of  the  bearers. 
We  see  Chinese  gentlemen  riding  in  sedan  chairs  slung 
between  poles,  and  small-footed  old  women  who  totter  along 
with  canes  in  their  hands.  There  are  hucksters  with  baskets 
on  their  way  to  the  markets,  and  laborers  and  peddlers  of 
every  description.  We  observe  that  hundreds  are  at  work 
in  the  fields,  and  get  our  first  gUmpse  of  the  industry  of 
the  Chinese,  which  is  unsurpassed  in  the  world. 

The  numbers  increase  as  we  go  up  the  river,  and  at 
Tientsin  we  find  scores  of  brawny  laborers  ready  to  handle 
the  freight  at  the  wharves.  They  carry  the  huge  boxes 
and  bales  out  of  our  ship,  all  grunting  and  yelling  together 
as  they  raise  and  lower  their  burdens.  As  we  look  closely 
at  them  we  are  surprised  at  their  strength.  They  are  taller 
than  the  people  of  the  southern  part  of  the  country,  from 
where  the  Chinese  of  America  come.  Some  are  six  feet  in 
height,  and  some  can  lift  five  hundred  pounds  at  a  load. 

Tientsin  is  the  New  York  of  North  China.  It  is  the 
chief  port  of  the  Great  Plain,  with  its  many  millions  of 


Il8  CHINA 

people,  and  also  of  Mongolia,  to  which  country  the  goods 
are  carried  by  railroads  and  camels.  It  was  Tientsin  which 
constructed  the  first  working  railroad  of  China,  and  it  now 
has  trunk  lines  which  connect  it  with  Peking,  and  with 
Mongolia,  Manchuria,  and  Siberia,  and  also  with  Hankau, 
Nanking,  and  Shanghai  and  other  cities  in  the  rich  Yangtze 
valley.  Tientsin  is  already  as  big  as  Philadelphia  and  has 
many  factories  and  schools.  Its  people  are  gradually  in- 
troducing the  ways  of  our  civilization,  and  as  we  go  through 
our  guides  point  out  the  changes,  saying  that  China  will  be 
soon  as  far  advanced  as  Japan. 

We  are  anxious,  however,  to  see  the  civilization  of  old 
China,  and  tell  our  guides  that  we  wish  to  travel  in  Chinese 
style  to  Peking.  They  reply  that  the  railroad  will  take  us 
there  in  less  than  three  hours,  but  that  in  the  old  ways  the 
journey  will  require  several  days.  We  ask  how  we  are  to 
go.  They  tell  us  we  can  have  ponies  or  carts  or,  if  we 
would  go  still  more  cheaply,  there  are  plenty  of  wheel- 
barrows. 

And  do  the  Chinese  ever  travel  on  wheelbarrows  ? 

Yes,  they  are  common  all  over  the  country.  Vast  quanti- 
ties of  goods  are  still  carried  across  country  upon  them, 
and  some  of  the  barrows  have  sails,  the  pushers  being 
helped  on  by  the  wind.  We  shall  find  many  with  men  and 
donkeys  harnessed  in  front,  thus  aiding  the  owner  who 
stands  between  the  handles  and  pushes  hard  behind.  The 
Chinese  wheelbarrow  is  different  from  ours.  The  wheel  is 
in  the  center  of  the  bed,  and  there  is  a  framework  over  it  with 
a  ledge  on  each  side.  The  passengers  sit  on  the  ledges,  or 
there  may  be  a  passenger  on  one  side  and  freight  on  the 
other.  I  have  seen  wheelbarrows  with  a  hog  or  sheep  tied 
to  one  side,  while  on  the  ledge  opposite  rode  a  pretty  Chinese 
girl  with  flowers  in  her  hair  and  rouge  on  her  cheeks. 


120  '   CHINA 

I  try  one  of  the  wheelbarrows,  and  conclude  it  will  not 
do  for  us  to  risk  an  eighty-mile  ride  upon  them,  and  as  the 
ponies  are  shaggy  and  rough,  we  tell  our  guides  to  order 
carts.  In  time  they  come  up,  each  pulled  by  two  dirty 
mules  harnessed  one  in  front  of  the  other  and  driven  by  a 
Chinese  who  sits  on  the  shafts. 

What  clumsy  vehicles  they  are !  The  wheels  are  twice 
as  heavy  as  those  of  our  drays,  and  the  shafts  are  as  thick. 
The  bed  rests  on  the  shafts  without  springs,  and  over  it  is 
a  framework  covered  with  blue  canvas  forming  the  roof  of 
the  cart.  This  is  too  low  for  us  to  have  seats  beneath  it, 
and  we  get  in  and  sit  on  the  floor.  There  is  no  support 
for  the  back,  and  when  we  attempt  to  lie  down,  our  feet 
extend  out  at  the  front,  disturbing  the  driver.  The  mules 
start  off  on  the  trot,  and  we  are  almost  jolted  to  jelly  by 
the  ruts  in  the  road.  The  dust  is  so  thick  we  can  taste  it. 
Our  lips  become  dry,  and  when  we  lick  them,  they  are 
straightway  coated  with  clay.  We  are  tired  out  before  we 
have  ridden  ten  miles  and  are  glad  now  and  then  to  climb 
out  for  a  walk. 

We  ask  why  there  are  no  better  roads,  and  are  surprised 
to  learn  that  this  is  one  of  the  best  highways  of  China. 
The  country  has  four  thousand  roads,  but  most  of  them 
have  been  so  cut  up  by  these  heavy  vehicles  throughout  the 
ages  that  they  are  no  better  than  ditches.  They  are  filled 
with  dust  when  the  weather  is  dry,  and  when  wet  they  become 
rivers  of  mud.  We  are  told,  however,  that  the  people  are  be- 
ginning to  want  modern  roads.  Some  of  them  have  traveled 
abroad,  and  at  their  advice  the  government  is  urging  the 
provinces  to  improve  the  highways,  and  most  of  the  cities 
and  towns  are  laying  new  streets.  We  shall  see  stone 
crushers  and  steam  rollers  in  Peking,  and  shall  learn  that 
new  roadways  are  being  made  everywhere. 


GENERAL  VIEW 


121 


As  we  proceed  we  pass  frequent  villages.  The  farmers 
do  not  live  on  their  farms  but  in  villages  of  squalid  houses 
with  fences  of  mud  about  them.  The  buildings  are  of  sun- 
dried  brick,  roofed  with  reeds  tied  on  in  bunches  over  which 
mud  is  spread.  We  stay  over  night  in  one  of  these  towns 
at  a  native  hotel  whose  surroundings  make  us  think  of  a  barn- 
yard. Our  rooms  are  in  stablelike  sheds  built  around  a  court 
filled  with  donkeys  and  camels.  The  donkeys  bray  at  all 
hours  of  the  night,  and  the  camels  cry  like  so  many  babies. 

Our    bed    is    a    brick 

ledge    about    two    feet    '  ^ 

high  which  fills  one  half 

of  the  room.    It  is  heated 

by  flues  running  under  it, 

and   we   are   alternately 

roasting  and  freezing. 

The  fuel  is  straw,  which 

burns  out  very  quickly, 

and  the  brick  bed  is  stone 

cold  before  a  new  fire  is 

lighted.     There    are   no 

springs  and  no  bedding. 

We  turn  over  again  and 

again,  and  at  daybreak  get  up  with  all  our  bones  aching. 

Starting  on  at  six  in  the  morning  we  ride  and  walk  until 
dusk,  when  we  find  by  the  increased  number  of  wheelbar- 
rows, donkeys,  and  carts  that  we  are  approaching  the 
great  capital  of  China,  and  far  off  in  the  distance  we  see 
the  walls  of  Peking.  Our  journey  has  lasted  two  days, 
but  we  have  had  a  taste  of  real  China,  and  the  trip  has 
been  well  worth  the  discomfort  it  cost. 


A  Hotel. 


122  THE  GREAT  CAPITAL  OF  CHINA 


15.   THE   GREAT   CAPITAL   OF   CHINA 

PEKING  is  a  walled  city.  Its  million  and  a  half  popu- 
lation live  in  a  vast  inclosure  bounded  by  walls  so  high 
that  one  would  have  to  climb  to  the  top  of  a  tall  tree  to 
look  over  them.  Think  of  surrounding  New  York  or 
London  by  great  walls,  sixty  feet  thick  at  the  bottom,  as 
tall  as  a  four-story  house,  and  so  broad  at  the  top  that  one 
could  drive  four  wagonloads  of  hay  side  by  side  upon  them 
without  crowding.  Let  these  walls  be  faced  inside  and 
out  with  gray  bricks,  each  as  thick  as  a  big  dictionary,  and 
let  the  space  between  be  filled  with  earth  so  packed  that 
the  ages  have  made  the  whole  as  solid  as  stone.  Build  great 
towers  upon  the  top  of  the  structure  above  the  gates  which 
go  through  it,  and  you  have  some  idea  of  Peking.  Such 
walls  were  originally  built  around  every  important  Chinese 
city,  and  it  is  estimated  that  there  are  still  more  than  a 
thousand  walled  cities  in  China.  The  walls  were  put  up 
as  a  means  of  defense,  and  on  many  of  them  are  piles  of 
stones  ready  to  be  thrown  down  at  the  enemy  in  case  of  a 
siege.  The  towers  were  intended  for  watchmen,  and  the 
gates  under  them  were  the  only  way  in.  They  were  open 
during  the  day  and  closed  at  night  by  doors  plated  with 
iron.  There  are  sixteen  such  gates  leading  into  Peking, 
and  we  can  see  the  towers  over  them  long  before  we  come 
to  the  walls.  Entering  one  of  the  gates,  we  climb  up  into 
the  tower  for  a  view  of  Peking. 

What  a  curious  city !  It  is  like  an  immense  orchard,  in 
which  stand  thousands  of  one-story  stablelike  structures  of 
gray  brick  with  roofs  of  black  tiles,  the  stores  and  homes 
of  the  people.  Here  and  there  are  government  buildings, 
shaped  somewhat  like  an  American  barn,  rising  above  the 


THE  GREAT  CAPITAL  OF  CHINA 


123 


trees,  and  through  the  whole  are  cut  wide  roads  upon  which 
moves  a  busy  throng  of  vehicles,  animals,  and  men. 

As  we  look  again  we  see  that  there  are  other  walls  run- 
ning this  way  and  that  through  the  inclosure,  and  our 
guides  tell  us  that  these  walls  surround  three  different 
cities,  the  whole  making  Peking.  There  is  the  Tartar  city 
at  the  north,  and  in  its  center  the  Imperial  City  which  was 


"  We  climb  up  into  the  tower  for  a  view  of  Peking." 

built  as  the  home  of  the  Emperor  and  his  thousands  of 
servants  ;  it  has  many  huge  buildings  roofed  with  porcelain 
tiles  of  bright  yellow.  There  is  the  Chinese  city  at  the 
south,  and  beyond  it  the  Temples  of  Agriculture  and 
Heaven,  where  the  Emperor  rode  out  in  an  elephant  cart 
to  sacrifice  and  pray  on  behalf  of  the  nation.  For  many 
generations  it  was  the  custom  for  the  Emperor,  every 
spring,  to  start  the  first  furrow  with  a  gold-handled  plow, 
after  which  the  farmers  would  put  in  their  crops. 


124  THE   GREAT   CAPITAL   OF  CHINA 

It  is  in  the  Chinese  city  that  most  of  the  business  is 
done.  Its  streets  are  narrow  and  walled  with  all  kinds 
of  stores,  as  we  shall  see  when  we  go  through  them. 
The  Tartar  city  gets  its  name  from  the  Tartars,  who  came, 
long  ago,  from  beyond  the  Great  Wall  and  conquered  the 
Chinese.  They  made  their  homes  here,  and  here  their 
Emperor  lived.  It  is  still  the  seat  of  government,  but  since 
191 2,  when  the  Imperial  government  was  overthrown, 
most  of  the  officials  have  been  Chinese. 

But  let  us  go  down  from  the  tower  and  make  our  way 
through  that  crowd  of  pushing  men  and  beasts  which  moves 
through  this  gate  from  sunrise  to  sunset.  What  a  wonder- 
ful collection  it  is !  There  are  caravans  of  brown  woolly 
camels  laden  with  tea  on  their  way  to  Mongolia  and  ridden 
by  fierce-looking  Tartars.  There  are  carts  without  number 
containing  the  silk-dressed  nobility,  and  common  workmen 
or  coolies,  half-naked,  on  foot.  There  are  little  gray  don- 
keys by  hundreds,  straddled  by  yellow-skinned  merchants, 
and  urged  on  by  the  blows  of  yellow-skinned  donkey  boys 
who  follow  behind. 

There  are  sober-faced  scholars  wearing  spectacles,  the 
glasses  of  which  are  as  big  as  our  silver  dollars,  and 
dandies  dressed  in  satins  and  silks.  There  are  shaven- 
headed  priests  from  Tibet  in  gowns  of  bright  yellow,  and 
travelers  from  all  over  China  in  costumes  of  all  shades 
and  tints.  There  are  barefooted  beggars  in  rags  and 
gorgeously  dressed  princes  on  ponies,  all  pushing  and 
scrambling  and  shouting  as  they  force  their  way  through. 
The  busiest  parts  of  the  cities  have  similar  crowds,  and  we 
hire  donkeys  in  order  to  ride  through  the  streets. 

Now  we  are  mounted  and  are  forcing  our  way  in  and 
out  through  these  yellow-skinned  people.  We  move  care- 
fully, and  have  little  trouble.     The  Chinese  have  become 


THE  GREAT  CAPITAL  OF  CHINA 


125 


accustomed  to  foreigners  and  are  gradually  adopting  the 
ways  of  our  civilization.  There  are  policemen  at  all  the 
street  crossings,  and  good  order  is  everywhere  kept.  We 
observe  that  many  of  the  streets  are  now  paved  and  that 
they  have  sidewalks  and  roadways.  We  see  automobiles 
flying  by  the  camels  on  the  chief  thoroughfares,  and  notice 
that  electric  lamps  have  taken  the  places  of  the  paper 
lanterns  used  in  the  past. 

Suppose  we  enter  a  store.  It  has  counters  behind  which 
the  clerks  stand,  and  upon  which  they  display  their  goods. 
The  clerks  wear  long 
gowns  of  silk,  and  black 
skullcaps  with  red  buttons 
on  top.  They  keep  their 
caps  on  in  the  stores.  We 
find  them  good  salesmen, 
although  they  always  ask 
several  times  what  they 
think  we  will  pay. 

Going  on,  we  pass  bank- 
ing establishments,  and  at 
the  street  corners  see 
money  changers  sitting  at 
tables  with  piles  of  copper 
and  brass  coins  before  them 
money  of  China,  and  it  takes  several  of  the  kind  known  as 
cash  to  equal  the  value  of  one  of  our  cents.  I  give  you 
here  a  picture  of  myself  and  my  Chinese  servant  holding 
some  strings  of  coins,  the  total  value  of  which  is  not 
more  than  ten  dollars.  Many  large  transactions  are  still 
carried  on  in  silver  by  weight.  Such  silver  is  cast  in 
the  shape  of  a  Chinese  shoe  and  marked  with  a  number 
which  shows  the  taels,  or  Chinese  ounces,  it  weighs.     A 

CARP.  ASIA  —  8 


''A: 


"  —  not  more  than  ten  dollars." 
Such  coins  form  the  chief 


126  THE  GREAT  CAPITAL  OF  CHINA 

tael  is  worth  a  little  more  than  our  silver  dollar.  In  ad- 
dition, silver  dollars  are  now  being  coined,  mints  having 
been  established  in  many  of  the  cities.  The  banks  issue 
notes,  and  such  notes  circulate  almost  everywhere. 

We  have  now  come  into  a  street  of  bookstores ;  and,  as 
we  go  on,  we  observe  that  in  some  streets  they  are  selling 
nothing  but  hats,  and  that  others  are  lined  with  shoe  stores 
and  fur  stores.  There  are  sections-  of  the  city  where  only 
porcelain  is  sold,  and  long  lines  of  shops  devoted  to  satins 
and  silks.  The  stores  of  the  same  kind  are  usually  close 
together,  and  there  are  lock  peddlers  by  hundreds  and 
wood  stores  and  coal  stores.  Wood  is  sold  by  weight,  and 
coal  dust  is  mixed  with  mud  and  made  up  into  balls  as  big 
as  our  fists  which  are  sold  for  a  few  cents  apiece. 

But  here  we  are  at  a  drug  store !  That  writing  in  front 
of  it  advertises  "ground  tiger  bones  to  strengthen  faint 
hearts,"  and  extracts  of  rat  meat,  which  are  warranted  to 
make  the  hair  grow.  Farther  on  is  a  coffin  street,  each 
store  of  which  is  full  of  great  wooden  caskets.  The  Chi- 
nese are  particular  as  to  how  they  are  buried,  and  they  some- 
times buy  coffins  a  long  time  before  death.  Indeed,  it  is 
not  uncommon  for  a  son  to  give  his  father  or  mother  a 
beautiful  coffin  at  New  Year's.  The  parent  will  keep  such 
a  present  in  his  parlor  and  show  it  with  pride  to  the  neigh- 
bors. In  the  coffin  street  are  shops  which  sell  gold  and 
silver  paper  cut  in  certain  odd  shapes.  This  is  funeral 
money  to  be  burned  at  the  graves  of  the  dead,  that  they 
may  not  go  penniless  into  the  land  of  the  hereafter. 

And  then  there  are  many  bird  stores  in  Peking.  The 
Chinese  are  fond  of  pets,  and  we  meet  grown  men  going 
about  carrying  little  birds  upon  sticks.  One  leg  of  the  bird 
is  tied  to  the  stick  by  a  string,  which  permits  it  to  fly  a 
short  distance,  and  it  now  and  then  darts  up  and  flaps  its 


THE   GREAT  CAPITAL  OF  CHINA  12/ 

wings  before  it  returns  to  its  perch.  We  find  pigeons 
sold  in  the  markets  and  often  hear  them  flying  about 
through  the  air  making  a  noise  like  a  boy  when  he  blows 
a  tin  whistle.  The  noise  comes  from  a  whistle  of  wood 
which  is  tied  to  the  tail  of  the  bird  to  scare  off  the  hawks. 
Such  whistles  cost  two  cents  apiece.  Many  of  the  pigeons 
are  used  as  carriers,  the  letters  being  tied  under  their 
wings. 

The  markets  are  especially  interesting.  We  have  heard 
it  said  that  the  chief  food  of  the  Chinese  is  rice,  cats, 
dogs,  and  rats.  But  we  observe  that  they  have  the  best  of 
meats  and  the  choicest  of  fruits.  The  mutton  comes  from 
the  fat-tailed  sheep  of  north  China,  the  tails  of  which  often 
weigh  several  pounds  each.  We  can  buy  camel's  flesh,  and 
pork  is  sold  everywhere.  The  Chinese  like  pork,  and  they 
have  one  variety  which  is  especially  fine,  being  produced 
on  an  island  off  the  southern  coast  where  the  pigs  are 
fattened  on  sweet  potatoes  and  chestnuts.  They  have  also 
fowls  of  every  kind  and  the  best  breeds  of  geese,  chickens, 
and  ducks. 

In  addition  to  the  animals  reared  for  the  markets,  China 
has  all  sorts  of  game.  We  see  deer,  rabbits,  and  squirrels, 
and  snipe,  quail,  duck,  and  other  wild  birds.  More  than  a 
thousand  different  kinds  of  fish  are  sold  in  the  markets,  and 
there  are  mackerel,  herring,  sturgeon,  and  sole,  as  well  as 
gold  and  silver  fish  and  fish  that  look  much  like  a  parrot. 
There  are  plenty  of  oysters  and  clams,  and  also  prawns, 
shrimps,  and  crabs.  The  fish  are  all  brought  in  alive,  and 
are  kept  in  tubs  of  running  water  until  they  are  sold. 

As  to  cats,  dogs,  and  rats,  they  are  sometimes  eaten  ^by 
the  poorer  Chinese.  I  once  bought  a  dried  rat  in  Canton, 
and  I  have  visited  restaurants  which  served  stews  of  cat 
meat  and  dog  meat.     In  one  of  them  I  saw  a  dog  cooking. 


128  THE  GOVERNMENT  AND   THE   SCHOOLS 

The  flesh  looked  like  pork,  and  the  fur  had  been  scalded 
and  scraped  from  the  skin,  with  the  exception  of  a  tuft  at 
the  end  of  the  tail.  This  tuft  was  jet  black,  and  my  guide 
said  it  was  left  on  to  show  the  dog's  color,  as  the  meat  of 
a  black  dog  is  considered  the  best. 


-<>o»<o*- 


i6.  THE  GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  SCHOOLS 

UNTIL  within  a  few  years,  the  Chinese  nation  has  been 
Hke  one  vast  family,  of  which  the  Emperor  was  the 
head  and  therefore  the  absolute  ruler.  The  people  have 
been  slow  to  take  up  our  civilization  which,  as  we  have  seen, 
has  so  greatly  changed  Japan  ;  and  it  is  only  within  a  short 
time  that  they  have  realized  that  our  methods  of  govern- 
ment must  be  the  best.  Indeed,  it  was  not  until  China  was 
conquered  by  little  Japan,  that  she  knew  how  backward 
she  was  and  how  unable  to  take  the  part  she  should  hold  in 
the  world.  She  then  saw  that  she  must  have  a  different  gov- 
ernment and  different  ways  of  education,  commerce,  and  in- 
dustry. For  this  reason  the  people  overthrew  the  old 
Empire,  and  established  a  Republic  in  its  stead,  with  a 
President  and  Congress  elected  by  the  people.  The  nation 
is  rapidly  changing,  and  it  is  growing  more  and  more  like 
the  rest  of  the  civilized  world  in  its  customs. 

It  was  in  191 2  that  the  Emperor  was  forced  from  the 
throne,  as  the  result  of  a  great  revolution.  The  new  Chi- 
nese President  and  the  new  Chinese  Congress  did  not 
agree  well.  Before  long  the  President  dissolved  the  Con- 
gress and  governed  almost  as  he  pleased.  He  even  went 
out  to  the  Temples  of  Agriculture  and  Heaven  to  sacri- 
fice and  pray  and  plow  as  the  Emperor  had  done.     Then, 


-'— "l^^^^^^^^^K^^ - 

si^^l^     ' 

I30 


CHINA 


in  191 5,  many  people  asked  that  the  country  should  again 
be  an  Empire.  But  so  many  other  Chinese  fought  against 
this  change  that  it  was  decided  to  continue  the  government 
as  a  Republic. 

We  can  now  see  the  grand  palaces  of  the  Emperor 
in  Peking.  They  are  in  the  Tartar  City  inside  a  walled 
inclosure  known  as  the  Pink  Forbidden  City.    This  consists 

of  a  wilderness  of  high  structures 
whose  roofs  of  yellow  tiles  shine 
like  gold  under  the  sun.  The  build- 
ings run  up  and  down  both  sides 
of  a  lake  and  they  look  out  upon 
broad  lawns  and  beautiful  parks 
in  which  grow  great  forest  trees. 
Many  of  the  palaces  of  the 
Emperor  are  now  used  as  the 
official  buildings  of  the  new  gov- 
ernment. Some  have  been  re- 
modeled, and  in  other  places  new 
buildings  are  going  up.  In  the 
past  it  was  impossible  for  travelers 
to  enter  this  part  of  Peking,  but 
we  can  now  go  where  we  please, 
and   we    shall    visit    the    offices. 


■^ — .- -.  v., -^  , -^ .... ;^.gg^.:aa?=ggggag^  jaf=- -^ 

\,K:-lf 

"^J 

w 

-.^.  "^ 

:,=•    ."^K 

^^P 

A  High  Official. 


We  find  in  them  the  men  who  are  ruling  China,  and  learn 
about  the  great  changes  which  are  now  taking  place. 

The  President  of  the  Republic  has  a  Cabinet.  He  has 
his  Departments  of  State,  Treasury,  War,  Justice,  and 
Agriculture,  as  well  as  those  of  Public  Works,  Education, 
Commerce,  and  Colonies.  Some  of  the  chief  officials  have 
been  educated  abroad  and  many  in  the  United  States. 
Our  nation  has  always  been  friendly  to  China,  and  the 
government  is  now  sending  many  Chinese  boys  to  our 


THE  GOVERNMENT   AND  THE   SCHOOLS  13I 

American  colleges.  We  find  friends  in  all  the  chief  public 
buildings,  and  are  made  quite  at  home. 

In  addition  to  the  officials  here  at  Peking,  there  are 
thousands  scattered  all  over  the  country.  China  proper  has 
twenty-two  provinces,  each  of  which  has  its  own  governor, 
with  hundreds  of  officials  to  help  him.  Each  province  is 
divided  into  districts,  and  the  districts  into  subdistricts  and 
villages.  Each  village  has  its  own  officers,  and  every  family 
in  it  is  responsible  for  its  good  conduct.  If  a  boy  commits 
a  crime,  his  father,  his  elder  brothers,  and  even  his  teachers 
are  punished,  as  well  as  himself ;  for  the  Chinese  say  that 
if  they  had  taught  him  properly,  he  would  not  have  broken 
the  laws. 

By  the  new  constitution,  every  province  now  has  its 
legislature  or  provincial  assembly  much  as  in  the  states  of 
our  Union.  The  cities  elect  their  own  mayors,  and  many 
of  them  have  night  schools  where  grown  men  are  now 
studying  how  a  people  should  govern  itself. 

In  the  past,  the  courts  of  China  were  corrupt,  the  jails 
and  prisons  were  vile  places,  and  the  punishments  were  the 
most  terrible  that  could  be  imagined.  These  matters  are 
being  reformed.  New  courts  have  been  created,  new  prisons 
are  building,  and  in  time  justice  will  be  administered  as 
fairly  as  in  our  own  country. 

At  present  some  of  the  milder  of  the  old  punishments 
are  still  in  use ;  and  as  we  go  through  the  streets  we  may 
see  petty  thieves  and  vagrants  wearing  cangues  (kangs). 
The  cangue  is  a  framework  of  boards  about  as  big  as  the  top 
of  a  square  kitchen  table.  This  has  a  hole  in  the  center  and 
is  so  made  that  it  can  be  opened  and  fitted  tightly  around 
the  neck  so  that  it  rests  on  the  shoulders.  It  usually  weighs 
about  twenty-five  pounds,  and  is  sometimes  loaded  with 
iron  to  make  it  weigh  more. 


132 


THE  GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  SCHOOLS 


—  as  big  as  the  top  of  a 
square  kitchen  table." 


Now  if  one  will  imagine  his  neck  fastened  through  a  hole 
in  a  kitchen  table  top,  which  he  is  condemned  to  carry  about 

with  him,  he  can  see  how  he 
would  be  punished  if  he  were 
caught  stealing  in  China.  He 
would  find  it  more  uncomfortable 
than  he  could  imagine.  The 
boards  would  extend  so  far  out 
that  he  could  not  reach  his  mouth 
with  his  hands  and  would  have  to 
ask  others  to  feed  him.  He  could 
not  lie  down,  and  if  a  fly  or  bee 
happened  to  Hght  on  his  nose,  he 
could  dislodge  it  only  by  shaking 
his  head.  Upon  the  top  of  the 
cangue  on  each  side  of  the  hole  are  pasted  strips  of  paper 
describing  the  crime  of  the  wearer,  so  that  every  one  can 
read  them  as  the  man  goes  throuerh  the 

streets.  ^  ''^^  f  ^  ^' I 

During  our  stay  in  Peking  we  meet  E  f  ^  J  ^  ^^^S 
many  officials  and  scholars  and  observe  ^^^^  ft  R^  3?.  't 
that  the  Chinese  have  in  some  respects 
a  high  degree  of  civilization.  They 
are  philosophers,  and  are  always  talk- 
ing about  morality,  virtue,  and  justice. 
They  like  to  discuss  things  with  us,  and 
we  often  find  that  they  have  the  best  of 
the  argument.  They  consider  scholar- 
ship better  than  riches.  Every  one  is 
anxious  that  his  children  should  have 
an  education ;  and  the  boy  who  gradu- 
ates well  or  passes  a  high  examination  is  pretty  sure  to  be 
employed  by  the  government.     It  is  therefore  the  aim  of 


Portion  of  a  Chinese 
Book. 


THE  GOVERNMENT   AND  THE   SCHOOLS 


133 


every  schoolboy  to  learn  his  lessons  so  well  that  he  may 
become  an  official. 

We  find  all  sorts  of  schools  in  Peking,  and  shall  meet 
with  others  everywhere  throughout  the  country.  Within 
recent  years  the  old  system  of  education  which  was  made 
up  almost  altogether  of  writing  essays  and  committing  to 
memory  the  Chinese  classics,  has  been  abolished,  and  the 


J« 

f^^^^ 

f^ 

# 

Schoolboys 

studies  are  now  much  the  same  as  our  own.  Chinese  boys 
and  girls  learn  arithmetic,  geography,  and  history,  and  as 
they  grow  older  they  study  the  sciences.  There  are  many 
manual  training  schools,  technical  schools,  and  high  schools 
and  colleges.  China  has  schools  of  law  and  medicine  and 
of  agriculture,  engineering,  and  commerce.  There  are  also 
large  universities,  including  one  here  in  Peking. 

In  these  new  schools  the  child  starts  in  with  the  kinder- 
garten at  the  age  of  three  or  four  years.     It  takes  him 


134  THE  GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  SCHOOLS 

about  nine  years  to  finish  the  lower  grades  and  five  more 
to  go  through  the  intermediate  schools.  He  is  now  ready 
for  college,  and  after  that  he  may  enter  the  University, 
where  he  remains  from  three  to  eight  years,  according  to 
the  course  he  has  chosen. 

In  the  public  schools  of  the  cities  the  children  have 
desks,  and  study  and  recite  much  as  we  do.  They  wear 
uniforms  and  have  a  military  drill  similar  to  that  of  Japan. 
They  have  their  games  during  recess  and  can  play  ball 
and  wrestle  as  well  as  ourselves.  They  learn  easily,  and 
most  of  them  are  anxious  to  study.  When  a  boy  starts 
to  school  for  the  first  time  he  carries 
a  red  visiting  card,  bearing  his  name, 
and  also  a  present  for  the  teacher. 


Hii 


t»^^J>^g¥tt»tl]  He  bows  to  the  teacher  when  he  en- 
Tne  Chinese  Counting  ters  or  leaves  the  room,  and  as  a  rule 
^°^-  is  polite. 

There  are  still  old-fashioned  schools  in  the  villages  where 
the  pupils  sit  on  the  floor  or  on  benches  before  little  tables. 
In  such  schools  they  study  out  loud,  shouting  at  the  tops  of 
their  voices  the  words  of  the  Chinese  classics  they  are  try- 
ing to  learn.  If  a  boy  stops  shouting,  the  teacher  concludes 
he  has  stopped  studying,  and  gives  him  a  caning.  In  the 
older  schools  they  do  most  of  their  sums  by  means  of  a 
counting  box  like  the  Japanese  soroban.  This,  as  we  saw, 
was  a  framework  of  wooden  buttons  strung  upon  wires. 
Every  boy  of  ten  or  more  knows  how  to  use  it ;  and  he  can 
do  sums  upon  it  more  quickly  than  we  can  figure  them 
out  with  paper  and  pen. 

Until  recently  the  Chinese  have  not  thought  that  women 
needed  much  education,  and  but  few  girls  went  to  school. 
Girls*  schools  are  now  being  estabhshed,  and  in  them  the 
girls  are  taught  the  same  as  the  boys.     They  learn  also 


THE  GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  SCHOOLS 


135 


music  and  drawing,  as  well  as  'nursing,  needlework,  and 
housekeeping.  In  these  schools  the  girls  are  required  to 
unbind  their  feet.  They  are  not  allowed  to  paint,  powder, 
or  to  wear  jewelry  or  expensive  gowns.  They  must  have 
on  the  school  uniforms  and  do  up  their  hair  in  a  braid  or 
plain  coil,  their  only  ornaments  being  the  rosettes  which 
indicate  the  schools  to  which  they  belong. 


Chinese  Girls  —  a  Class  in  Arithmetic. 


The  new  schools  are  performing  a  great  work  among 
the  Chinese,  and  this  is  true  not  only  in  the  way  of  ordinary 
education,  but  also  for  the  army.  In  most  of  them  the  boys 
are  taught  to  be  soldiers.  They  have  their  own  guns  and 
go  through  regular  military  exercises  under  officers  who 
have  been  trained  in  Japan,  America,  or  Europe.  More- 
over, there  are  also  government  military  schools,  so  that 
China  will  soon  have  a  great  modern  army.     Its  people 


136  THE  GREAT  WALL  OF  CHINA 

are  so  many  that  it  could  *put  more  soldiers  into  the  field 
than  almost  any  other  nation  on  earth,  and  some  think  that 
the  Chinese  might  conquer  the  world  if  they  would.  In 
the  past  they  have  been  often  imposed  upon  by  smaller 
nations,  and  were  badly  defeated  by  little  Japan.  They  are 
not  cowards,  however,  and  it  may  be  different  when  they 
have  learned  our  ways  of  fighting  and  have  modern  guns 
and  war  machines  of  their  own. 


>5^< 


17.    THE  GREAT  WALL  OF  CHINA 

WE  start  northward  to-day  to  see  the  Great  Wall  of 
China.  We  go  upon  donkeys,  for  it  is  only  on 
them  that  we  can  travel  over  the  mountains  upon  which 
the  structure  is  built.  We  have  learned  something  from 
our  restless  nights  on  the  way  to  Peking,  and  we  carry 
along  extra  bedding  to  soften  the  brick  floors  of  the  inns. 
Our  donkeys  are  not  much  larger  than  Newfoundland 
dogs.  The  saddles  are  blankets  to  which  the  iron  rings 
used  as  stirrups  are  tied  with  ropes.  The  bridles  have 
been  added  because  we  are  foreigners.  Chinese  donkeys 
do  not  know  the  use  of  the  bit,  and  the  people  seldom 
have  bridles.  The  animals  are  directed  this  way  and  that 
by  a  blow  on  the  neck  with  a  club,  or  they  may  be  driven 
by  boys  who  run  behind  with  sticks  in  their  hands. 

In  addition  to  these  little  beasts,  we  have  several  mule 
litters  to  which  we  can  change,  when  tired  of  the  saddle. 
The  mule  litter  is  a  kennel-like  box  covered  with  cloth,  slung 
between  two  thick  poles  about  thirty  feet  long.  The  poles 
stick  out  in  front  and  behind,  forming  shafts,  which  are 
bound  to  the  sides  of  the  mules,  and  in  which  they  go  single 


THE  GREAT  WALL  OF  CHINA 


137 


file.  The  litter  is  open  in  front.  It  is  furnished  with  blank- 
ets, and  we  can  lie  down  while  we  are  jolted  over  the  road. 
It  takes  us  more  than  an  hour  to  pass  from  the  hotel  in 
Peking  to  the  gates  of  the  city.  Going  through  them  we 
find  the  road  for  a  long  distance  lined  with  mat  sheds  and 
mud  huts.  We  next  cross  bridges  of  marble  and  then 
reach  the  old  highway  from  Peking  to  Mongolia,  over  which 


A  Mule  Litter. 

millions  of  dollars*  worth  of  goods  are  carried  each  year. 
The  feet  of  innumerable  donkeys  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
camels  have  cut  up  the  earth,  so  that  the  road  has  become 
Httle  more  than  a  wide  ditch  through  the  fields.  The  rude 
carts  have  worn  great  hollows  and  ruts,  and  we  are  often 
turned  out  of  our  way  by  pools  of  half-liquid  mud.  Our 
animals  get  stuck  in  the  mud  up  to  their  knees,  and  they 
can  make  only  three  or  four  miles  an  hour. 


133 


THE  GREAT  WALL  OF  CHINA 


In  some  places  the  road  is  so  narrow  that  we  are  crowded 
out  into  the  fields  by  the  caravans  of  camels  which,  in 
single  file,  with  soft,  velvety  step,  move  contemptuously 
along.  They  are  tied  in  companies  of  six,  by  ropes  fas- 
tened to  sticks  thrust  through  their  noses.  About  the  neck 
of  the  last  camel  is  a  long  iron  bell  as  big  around  as  a 
stovepipe,  which  dingdongs  as  he  moves,  and  announces 


^1  ♦  .  1^1  .p 


mium 


in  single  file  —  " 


to  the  Mongolian  driver  that  that  section  of  his  caravan  is 
on  the  go.  Each  camel  carries  a  box  of  brick  tea  strapped 
on  each  side  his  back,  and  the  boxes  bob  up  and  down 
as,  grumbling  and  whining,  he  tramps  sullenly  on.  As 
we  go  farther  north  we  meet  more  camels  carrying  coal 
in  great  bags.  We  pass  caravans  of  them  almost  a  mile 
long,  and  see  them  far  away  on  the  horizon,  forming  a 
moving  fence  against  the  blue  sky  of  North  China. 

We  soon  come  to  the  hills,  and  at  last  to  the  Nankow 


THE  GREAT  WALL  OF  CHINA  1 39 

Pass,  over  which  the  caravans  cross  the  mountain  range 
on  their  way  to  the  north.  This  pass  is  the  chief  line  of 
travel,  and  for  more  than  ten  generations  it  has  been 
trodden  by  millions.  It  is  one  of  the  roughest  roads  of 
the  world.  On  a  trip  to  the  Great  Wall,  I  once  met  a 
foreigner  who  had  attempted  to  go  through  in  a  cart. 
When  he  came  to  the  mountains,  he  was  forced  to  hire  a 
camel,  which  carried  the  cart  through  on  its  back.  Not- 
withstanding the  roughness  of  the  pass,  a  railroad  has 
been  built  over  it.  This  road  starts  at  Peking  and  ex- 
tends northward  into  Mongolia,  the  intention  being  that 
it  will  eventually  connect  with  the  Trans-Siberian  Railroad, 
thus  giving  another  trunk  line  from  China  to  Europe. 

We  pick  our  way  in  and  out  among  the  stones  for  fifteen 
miles,  stopped  now  and  then  by  droves  of  black  hogs  and 
sheep  with  fat  tails.  We  wind  along  the  bed  of  a  stream, 
and  at  last  get  our  first  sight  of  the  Great  Chinese  Wall. 
Many  times  we  think  we  have  reached  it,  when  a  sharp 
turn  shows  that  it  is  still  miles  in  the  distance.  We  can 
see  it  cutting  its  way  over  the  mountains,  climbing  the 
peaks  and  crawling,  as  it  were,  up  the  hills.  At  last  we 
reach  the  gate  that  leads  through  into  Mongolia;  and 
going  off  to  the  side  find  an  inclined  roadway  up  which  we 
ride  on  our  donkeys  to  the  top  of  the  wall  to  explore  this 
wonderful  structure. 

The  Great  Wall  was  built  by  the  Chinese  as  a  defense 
against  the  invasions  of  the  Tartar  hordes  from  the  north. 
It  begins  at  the  sea  and  rups  over  the  mountains  clear 
across  the  northern  boundary  of  China  proper,  just  south 
of  the  vast  provinces  of  Manchuria  and  Mongolia,  until  it 
reaches  the  Desert  of  Gobi,  north  of  Tibet.  In  a  straight 
line  it  is  more  than  twelve  hundred  miles  long,  and  with  its 
windings  it  measures,  all  told,  a  distance  of  about  fifteen 


k 


I40 


THE  GREAT  WALL  OF  CHINA 


hundred  miles.  It  is  about  twenty-five  feet  wide  and 
thirty  feet  high.  It  is  composed  of  a  mass  of  stone  and 
earth  mixed  together,  and  faced  with  walls  of  slate-colored 
brick,  the  interior  being  so  packed  down  and  filled  in  that 
throughout  much  of  its  eastern  portion  it  is  as  solid  as  stone. 

Near  the  city  of. 
Shanhaikwan  on  the 
edge  of  the  Yellow 
Sea,  a  part  of  the 
wall  has  been  thrown 
down ;  and  I  there 
found  that  the  brick 
outer  facing  was 
about  three  feet  in 
thickness.  The 
bricks  are  fifteen 
inches  long,  seven 
inches  wide,  and  a  lit- 
tle more  than  three 
inches  thick.  One 
which  I  brought  with 
me  back  to  America 
weighs  twenty-one 
pounds  and  five 
ounces.  The  top  of 
the  Great  Wall  is  paved  with  such  bricks,  and  upon  its 
northern  side,  throughout  its  entire  length,  is  a  battlement, 
behind  which  the  Chinese  archers  lay  and  shot  at  the 
Tartars. 

Huge  two-story  and  three-story  towers  are  to  be  seen, 
rising  above  the  wall  along  a  great  part  of  it.  These 
towers  are  made  of  bricks,  similar  to  those  just  described. 
They  extend  about  forty  feet  above  the  top  of  the  structure. 


Tower  at  Shanhaikwan. 


THE  GREAT  WALL  OF  CHINA  I4I 

having  many  portholes,  through  which  one  can  see  for 
miles  over  the  country.  The  wall  is  about  ten  feet  nar- 
rower at  the  top  than  at  the  base ;  but  the  top  is  so  wide 
that  the  largest  motor  car  could  be  easily  ridden  along  its 
paved  highway. 

The  Great  Wall  is  just  about  as  tall  as  a  three-story 
house,  and  its  width  is  that  of  the  average  parlor.  Now, 
if  you  will  imagine  a  solid  line  of  three-story  brick  houses 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  wide,  built  across  the  United 
States  from  New  York  to  Omaha,  you  may  have  some  idea 
of  the  size  of  the  Great  Chinese  Wall.  It  would  be  far 
easier,  however,  for  us  to  build  such  a  line  of  houses,  than 
it  was  for  the  Chinese  to  construct  their  mighty  fortifi- 
cation. Our  building  line  would  cross  New  Jersey  and 
Pennsylvania  and  cut  the  rolling  plains  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  and  Iowa,  where  water  is  plentiful,  where  there  is 
much  clay  for  brick  and  where  the  railroads  could  be  used 
for  carrying  the  materials. 

This  mighty  structure  was  built  right  over  the  mountains. 
It  climbs  the  steepest  of  crags,  and  in  one  place  crosses  a 
peak  more  than  five  thousand  feet  high.  In  some  parts, 
there  is  no  clay  within  thirty  miles  of  it,  and  many  of  the 
hills  are  so  steep  that  the  Chinese  had  to  tie  the  bricks  to 
the  backs  of  sheep  and  goats  in  order  to  get  them  up  to 
the  builders.  The  bricks  were  molded  by  hand,  and  as 
there  are  but  few  cattle  or  horses  in  China,  every  foot  of 
the  wall  was  made  without  the  aid  of  machinery. 

The  Chinese  historians  say  that  it  took  an  army  of  three 
hundred  thousand  men  to  protect  the  builders,  and  that 
millions  were  employed  in  the  construction.  They  state 
also  that  th.e  wall  was  begun  and  completed  within  the  short 
space  of  ten  years.  As  we  stand  upon  it  we  are  impressed 
with  the  civiHzation  these  people  must  have  had  in  those 

CARP.  ASIA  —  9 


142 


MONGOLIA  AND    MANCHURIA 


"This  mighty  structure  was  built  right  over  the  mountains." 

long  ago  days.  The  Great  Wall  was  built  when  our  own 
ancestors  were  roaming  through  Europe,  living  in  huts 
and  sleeping  on  straw.  It  was  erected  seventeen  hundred 
years  before  America  was  discovered,  when  Rome  was  still 
a  republic,  and  none  of  the  great  nations  of  Europe  had 
yet  come  into  existence. 


aj^c 


i8.     MONGOLIA  AND   MANCHURIA 


WE  might  continue  our  travels  northward  through  the 
Great  Wall  and  explore  Mongolia;  but  to  do  so  we 
should  need  a  caravan  of  camels,  and  the  trip  would  last 
many  months.  Mongolia  is  one  third  as  large  as  the  whole 
United  States,  and  most  of  it  is  composed  of  the  high, 
windy  Desert  of  Gobi,  where  one  might  wander  for  days 
without  finding  water.     We  meet  Mongols  at   the   pass 


MONGOLIA  AND   MANCHURIA 


143 


through  the  wall.  They  are  on  camels  and  are  carrying 
brick  tea  north  to  Urga,  their  capital,  which  is  six  hundred 
miles  from  where  we  are  now.  They  are  a  stout  people 
with  rosy  faces  of  a  copper  color,  and  features  much  like 
those  of  our  Indians.  They  dress  in  sheepskins  with  the 
wool  turned  inward,  and  have  gowns  and  caps  lined  with 


"  We  meet  Mongols  at  the  pass  through  the  wall." 

fur.     The  men,  women,  and  children  wear  boots  which 
reach  to  their  knees,  and  all  look  greasy  and  dirty. 

There  are  several  millions  of  these  Mongols.  They  are 
a  nomadic  race  who  range  the  desert  with  their  camels, 
horses,  and  sheep.  They  dwell  in  circular  tents  of  skins 
or  felt  stretched  over  a  framework,  with  a  hole  in  the  roof 
to  let  out  the  smoke.  Their  only  furniture  is  small  tables 
and  the  boxes  or  chests  containing  their  clothing,  the  latter 


144 


MONGOLIA  AND  MANCHURIA 


being  placed  around  the  walls  on  the  inside  of  the  tent. 
The  Mongols  live  largely  upon  mush  and  cakes,  made  of 
the  meal  of  millet,  buckwheat,  or  oats,  mixed  with  milk. 
They  eat  meat  only  on  festal  occasions,  killing  a  sheep 
when  they  have  guests.  They  do  not  use  chopsticks,  but 
eat  with  their  fingers  and    spoons.     They  cook  over  the 


E@ 

> 

^^^^^BKtk'"''  m^^^^^Kmi 

#M 

v> 

j^Klf         t"^     !>                                 l^^^^^ll 

a^mm 

dj^    *** 

mm^ 

|k^ 

^9t^^Ki|^|^^H 

■lET      ■//            ^^^'    Wf^^- 

'  V^&>  «:i«Htt 

mf^St/f^        ^ 

^^St          .:^..       ^^PC-v^fefer-  . 

t                                 m^ 

^^^^N.       "^^^^ 

^J^^KKgsBtKmW^^^                                         ^^■1 

J 

it 

^ 

i   1 

i  1 

Mm 

^ 

^ 

^    1: 

Mongols. 


coals,  and  a  favorite  dish  is  a  soup  made  of  milk  and  brick 
tea  enriched  with  butter. 

A  far  different  country  from  Mongolia  is  Manchuria, 
which  lies  to  the  east  of  it  between  Korea  and  Siberia.  It 
is  a  province  of  China,  and  its  people  are  largely  of  Mon- 
golian descent,  although  they  have  mixed  with  the  Chinese 
and  become  semicivilized.     They  are  taller  and  stronger 


MONGOLIA  AND   MANCHURIA 


145 


than  the  Chinese  we  see  in  America,  and  more  hardy  than 
those  of  most  other  parts  of  the  country.  There  are  about 
sixteen  milUons  of  them.  They  have  hundreds  of  villages, 
and  also  cities  of  considerable  size,  the  largest  being 
Mukden,  situated  in  the  heart  of  the  province. 

Manchuria  is  one  of  the  richest  parts  of  North  Asia, 
and   it  will   at   some   time   support   many  millions  more 


Manchurian  Millet. 


people  than  now.  It  is  ten  times  as  large  as  the  state  of 
Indiana,  and  its  soil,  almost  everywhere,  will  raise  wheat, 
corn,  barley,  and  oats.  It  produces  vast  quantities  of 
beans,  and  especially  a  sorghum  or  millet  the  seed  of  which 
is  the  chief  food  of  the  people.  This  crop  grows  eight  or 
ten  feet  in  height.  It  looks  like  Indian  corn,  save  that  the 
grain  is  found  at  the  top.  The  stalks  are  cut  off  close  to 
the  ground,  and  the  seed  is  threshed  out  by  a  stone  roller 


146  MONGOLIA  AND    MANCHURIA 

drawn  by  an  ox,  donkey,  or  mule,  which  tramps  around 
over  the  straw. 

The  grain  is  ground  to  a  flour,  and  is  eaten  like  rice. 
The  fodder  is  used  for  feeding  cattle  and  horses,  and  also 
for  fencing,  bridging,  and  hut  building.  The  leaves  are 
woven  into  mats  and  bags  to  hold  grain,  while  the  roots 
are  sometimes  plowed  up  and  collected  for  fuel. 

Tobacco  is  grown  in  the  northern  part  of  the  country,  and 
in  the  south  are  produced  vast  quantities  of  the  silkworms 
which  spin  the  coarse  fiber  from  which  pongee  silks  are 
made.  These  worms  do  not  feed  upon  the  mulberry,  but 
upon  the  leaves  of  an  oak  which  covers  the  hills  of  south- 
eastern Manchuria,  the  trees  being  cut  back  every  few 
years  to  furnish  new  growth.  The  cocoons  are  shipped  to 
Japan,  and  to  Chifu,  in  China,  where  the  weaving  is  done. 

In  northern  Manchuria  are  great  forests  and  pasture 
lands,  where  the  grass  reaches  a  height  of  six  feet,  com- 
pelling travelers  to  cut  their  way  through.  Here  horses, 
mules,  oxen,  sheep,  and  goats  are  reared.  The  land  is 
rich  in  minerals,  having  gold,  silver,  iron,  copper,  and  lead. 
Indeed,  it  should  be  one  of  the  most  prosperous  parts  of 
the  world. 

But  suppose  we  make  a  short  trip  into  Manchuria  and 
visit  the  capital.  We  have  returned  to  Peking  and  taken 
the  train  which  goes  north  through  that  country  to  the 
Trans-Siberian  Railroad,  forming  a  part  of  the  trunk  Hne 
from  China  to  Europe.  We  ride  all  day  across  the  Great 
Plain,  passing  the  Kaiping  coal  mines  about  three  hours 
from  Tientsin,  and  stopping  eighty  miles  farther  on  to  look 
at  the  Great  Wall  of  China  where  it  ends  at  Shanhaikwan 
on  the  edge  of  the  sea.  The  wall  there  is  as  strong  as 
where  we  visited  it  at  the  Nankow  Pass,  but  a  breach  has 
been  made  through  which  our  train  goes. 


MONGOLIA  AND    MANCHURIA 


147 


Leaving  Shanhaikwan,  we  enter  Manchuria  and  travel  all 
day  over  a  rich  country  much  less  thickly  settled  than  those 
parts  of  China  where  we  have  been.  We  find  soldiers  at 
all  the  stations,  and  in  some  sections  there  are  guards 
on  the  cars.  This  is  to  protect  the  passengers  from  the  ter- 
rible Huang  Houtzes  (Whang  Hootz-es),  tribes  of  brigands 
who  sometimes  rush 
forth  and  hold  up  the 
trains.  There  are 
many  such  in  northern 
Manchuria.  They  live 
in  the  forests,  from 
where  they  now  and 
then  make  raids  to 
rob  or  blackmail  the 
people.  They  force 
the  villages  to  pay  trib- 
ute, and  frequently 
take  travelers  captive 
and  hold  them  for  a 
ransom. 

We  are  delighted 
with   Mukden.       It    is         "We  find  soldiers  at  ah  the  stations." 

not  so  large  as  Peking,  but  it  has  great  walls  about  it,  and 
in  its  center  is  a  second  inclosure  surrounding  the  old 
palaces  of  the  Emperor  and  the  new  government  offices. 
As  we  have  already  learned,  the  Imperial  family  of  China 
was  of  Manchu  or  Tartar  descent,  the  ancestors  of  the 
Emperor  having  once  lived  in  Mukden. 

The  population  of  the  country  is  now  a  combination  of 
Manchus  and  Chinese,  and  Mukden  has  many  tall,  broad- 
shouldered  Tartars  who  remind  us  of  the  Mongols  we  saw 
along  the  Great  Wall.    The  Manchu  women  are  handsome. 


MONGOLIA  AND   MANCHURIA  1 49 

They  look  us  straight  in  the  eyes.  Their  feet  are  not 
bound  like  those  of  the  Chinese  women,  and  they  walk 
through  the  streets  with  firm  tread.  Among  them  are 
many  rich  ladies  dressed  in  silk  coats  lined  with  fur,  which 
fall  to  the  ankles,  and  below  which  show  out  silk  pantaloons. 
They  paint  their  faces  white,  and  tint  the  cheeks  and  eye- 
lids with  red.  They  have  gorgeous  headdresses,  wrap- 
ping the  hair  around  thin  plates  of  gold  or  silver  two  or 
three  inches  wide  and  ten  inches  long,  in  such  a  way  that 
it  stands  out  in  wings  on  each  side  of  the  head.  Their 
shoes  are  like  stilts,  having  a  high  support  under  the  in- 
step.    The  children  dress  like  their  parents. 

We  spend  much  time  walking  the  streets.  Mukden  has 
miles  of  one-story  booths,  back  of  which  are  warehouses 
filled  with  fine  goods.  There  are  long  streets  devoted 
to  the  making  of  ornaments  of  silver  and  gold,  and  some 
to  the  manufacture  of  copper  and  brass.  There  are  streets 
of  shoe  stores,  with  great  boots  hanging  out  at  the  front  as 
a  sign  of  the  business,  and  quarters  where  caps  only  are 
sold.  We  see  peddlers  selling  false  hair  to  be  braided 
into  the  queue  to  make  it  seem  longer.  Black  silk  is 
also  used  for  this  purpose. 

Mukden  has  many  fur  stores.  It  has  more  than  forty 
tanneries,  and  leather  and  fur  are  to  be  seen  everywhere. 
The  city  is  one  of  the  chief  fur  markets  of  Asia.  The 
forests  of  Manchuria  are  full  of  wild  animals,  and  the  raw 
skins  and  furs  are  brought  here  for  sale.  Among  the  furs 
are  those  of  tigers  and  leopards,  sables,  beavers,  and  wolves. 
We  see  many  dogskins,  and  are  told  that  there  are  dog  farms 
where  the  animals  are  bred  for  their  skins.  They  are 
killed  just  before  spring,  while  the  hair  is  still  long.  The 
best  skins  make  beautiful  rugs,  and  we  learn  that  many 
of  them  are  shipped  to  America. 


I50  CHINESE  BOATS  AND   BOAT   PEOPLE 

During  our  stay  in  Manchuria  we  take  a  trip  north 
to  Harbin,  where  we  go  through  great  flouring  mills, 
equipped  with  machinery  made  in  our  country.  Harbin  is 
in  a  rich  grain-raising  region  at  the  junction  of  the  Chinese 
Eastern  and  the  Trans-Siberian  railroads.  It  has  many 
Russians,  and  we  ride  out  in  droskies  to  see  the  country 
about.  We  also  visit  Kirin,  another  large  town  surrounded 
by  forests.  It  has  sawmills  and  lumber  establishments. 
It  is  situated  on  the  Sungari  (soon-ga-re')  River,  and  is  con- 
nected by  rail  with  the  trunk  line  of  the  Trans-Siberian 
Railroad. 

»o}^o<> — 

19.    CHINESE   BOATS   AND   BOAT   PEOPLE 

WE  have  returned  to  Peking,  and  are  on  our  way 
south  to  the  valley  of  the  Yangtze.  We  might  have 
gone  there  by  rail,  taking  the  road  that  crosses  the  Great 
Plain  to  Hankau,  the  chief  commercial  city  of  interior 
China  lying  on  the  Yangtze,  six  or  seven  hundred  miles 
from  the  sea.  We  prefer,  however,  to  travel  by  boat,  as 
we  wish  to  explore  the  Grand  Canal,  built  by  the  Chinese 
centuries  ago  as  their  most  important  trade  route. 
This  canal  runs  from  Tientsin  about  seven  hundred 
miles  southward  to  the  rich  city  of  Hangchau,  which  is 
southwest  of  Shanghai.  It  crosses  the  Hoang  and  the 
Yangtze  and  other  large  streams,  cutting  its  way  through 
one  of  the  most  thickly  populated  parts  of  the  globe.  In 
some  places  it  has  followed  the  streams,  winding  in  and 
out  for  miles  without  locks.  In  others,  where  the  land  is 
low,  its  bed  is  a  raised  earthwork  walled  on  both  sides  with 
stones.  Some  of  the  embankments  are  twenty  feet  high, 
and  the  stream   they  inclose   is   often  two  hundred   feet 


CHINESE  BOATS  AND   BOAT  PEOPLE  Ijl 

wide.  There  are  many  locks,  and  the  boats  are  dragged 
by  men  from  one  level  to  another.  At  present  the  canal 
is  going  to  ruin.  It  is  less  and  less  used  every  year,  the 
boats  for  carrying  the  tribute  rice  to  Peking  having  been 
displaced  by  the  railroads  and  by  the  steamers  which  go 
by  sea  to  Tientsin. 

We  find  our  journey  delightful.  We  pass  many  walled 
cities  and  towns  and  thousands  of  farm  villages,  the  latter 
marked  by  clumps  of  trees  scattered  over  the  landscape. 
Our  boat  moves  along  slowly,  and  we  frequently  get  off  to 
walk  on  the  banks.  We  meet  Chinese  craft  here  and 
there,  and  now  and  then  harness  ourselves  side  by  side 
with  the  yellow-skinned  boys  and  help  them  drag  their 
little  vessels  along.  We  cross  the  wide  Hoang  and,  reach- 
ing the  Yangtze,  take  a  steamer  for  a  trip  up  that  mighty 
stream. 

The  Yangtze  is  more  than  three  thousand  miles  long,  and 
ocean  vessels  can  sail  over  its  course  to  Ichang  (e-chang'), 
which  is  one  thousand  miles  from  the  sea.  It  is  a  great 
water  highway  to  the  interior  of  the  country,  having  so 
many  tributaries  that  it  might  be  called  the  Mississippi  of 
China. 

As  we  sit  on  the  deck  of  our  steamer,  in  the  lower  part 
of  its  course,  we  can  see  the  masts  and  sails  of  boats  moving 
across  the  green  fields.  The  country  is  cut  up  with  dikes 
and  canals  quite  as  much  as  is  Holland.  There  are  vast 
territories  where  nearly  every  man's  house  can  be  visited  by 
boat,  and  where  the  people  seem  to  live  on  the  water.  China 
has  so  many  canals  that  its  navigable  streams  form  the 
principal  highways. 

The  largest  cities  stand  upon  the  banks  of  the  rivers, 
and  there  are  industrial  centers  at  every  few  miles.  Each 
city  has  its  peculiarities.     Some,  such  as  Hangchau  and 


52 


CHINESE  BOATS  AND  BOAT  PEOPLE 


Suchau  on  the  Grand  Canal,  are  noted  for  their  manu- 
facture of  silk,  and  others,  like  Hankau,  are  great  iron 
centers.  Nanking,  which  is  on  the  Yangtze  several  hours 
by  rail  from  Shanghai,  has  streets  as  wide  as  those  we  saw 
in  Peking ;  while  in  Canton,  on  the  Pearl  River,  a  great 
business  city  with  more  than  a  million  people,  the  streets 
are  so  narrow  that  we  have  to  crowd  against  the  walls  to 
let  the  wheelbarrows  go  by. 

One  of  the  finest  cities  of  the 
country  is  Shanghai7  situated  not 
far  from  the  coast  on  the  Whampoa 
(hwam-po'a),  a  branch  of  the  Yang- 
tze. It  is  the  chief  port,  and  might 
be  called  the  New  York  of  China. 
It  has  fine  foreign  buildings,  great 
factories  devoted  to  the  making  of 
cotton  and  silk,  and  other  indus- 
tries of  almost  every  description. 

We  can  get  some  idea  of  the 
trade  of  a  country  by  a  look  at  its 
shipping.  China  is  said  to  have 
more  boats  of  one  kind  and  another 
than  all  the  rest  of  the  world  put 
together.  It  has  lines  of  steam- 
ships on  its  principal  rivers  and  native  craft  on  most  of  the 
streams.  At  the  walled  cities,  which  we  pass  on  our  trip 
up  the  Yangtze,  there  are  forests  of  masts  belonging  to 
boats  of  all  sizes,  descriptions,  and  shapes.  We  see  Chinese 
junks  with  widespreading  sails  ribbed  with  bamboo  and 
fishing  craft  whose  sails  are  shaped  like  the  wings  of  a  bat, 
catching  the  slightest  wind  as  they  move  along.  We  go  by 
barges  loaded  with  merchandise,  and  canoes  sculled  by 
Chinese  who  stand  at  the  stern.     There  are  craft,  shaped 


A  Shanghai  Policeman. 


CHINESE  BOATS  AND  BOAT  PEOPLE 


153 


just  like  a  slipper,  which  are  used  as  dispatch  boats,  and 
go  very  fast.  We  see  queerly  shaped  boats  with  paddle 
wheels  on  their  sides,  turned  by  men,  a  half  dozen  coolies 
doing  the  work  of  a  small  gasoline  engine ;  and  are  now 
and  then  stopped  by  beggars,  who  sail  through  the  canals 
from  one  town  to  another  to  ask  alms  of  the  people.  The 
beggar  boats  lie  at  anchor  while  the  men  go  upon  shore 


—  forests  of  masts 


and  visit  the  villages.     Some  of   the  beggars  are  lepers, 
and  we  pay  them  well  to  keep  out  of  our  way. 

The  Chinese  rivers  are  infested  by  pirates.  We  carry 
guns,  and  have  a  little  cannon  in  the  front  of  our  ship. 
Here  and  there  at  the  edge  of  a  village  we  see  a  boat  or 
ship  cut  in  half  and  stood  upon  end.  We  are  told  that  it 
once  belonged  to  some  thieves  or  pirates  and  that  it  marks 
the  place  where  they  were  beheaded,  the  boat  having  been 
erected  as  a  warning  to  others.    There  are  also  police  boats 


154 


CHINESE  BOATS  AND  BOAT  PEOPLE 


and  customs  boats  whose  sole  business  it  is  to  collect  taxes 
on  shipping. 

As  we  continue  our  journey,  we  discover  that  every  local- 
ity has  its  own  kind  of  boats,  the  only  thing  in. common 
being  the  eyes  painted  on  each  side  of  the  prow.  The 
Chinese  have  a  tradition  that  a  boat  must  have  eyes  to  see 


A  Beggars'  Boat. 

its  way  through  the  water.  Therefore  the  small  boats  are 
given  small  eyes,  the  cargo  boats,  eyes  a  little  bigger, 
while  the  eyes  of  the  ships  are  as  large  as  a  soup  plate. 
During  a  trip  on  the  Pei  River  I  once  happened  to  hang 
my  feet  over  one  of  the  eyes  of  my  boat,  whereupon  the 
captain  rushed  up  and  begged  me  to  move.  Said  he,  in  a 
peculiar  English  that  some  Chinese  use  in  talking  to 
foreigners :  — 


CHINESE  BOATS  AND  BOAT  PEOPLE        1 55 

"  Boat  must  have  eye !  No  have  eye,  no  can  see  !  No 
can  see,  how  can  go  ?  " 

This  eye  superstition  is  prevalent  among  the  common 
Chinese.  Indeed,  when  the  first  railroad  locomotive  was 
built,  it  existed  to  such  an  extent  that  the  workmen  insisted 
that  an  eye  should  be  painted  on  each  side  of  the  smoke- 
stack in  order  that  the  engine  might  be  able  to  see  its  way 
along  the  track. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  many  millions  of  Chinese  are  born, 
live,  and  die  upon  the  water.  The  boats  carry  numerous 
people,  and  they  are  not  only  the  homes  of  the  sailors,  but 
of  their  families  as  well.  On  the  Pearl  River,  near  Canton, 
there  are  said  to  be  three  hundred  thousand  people 
living  upon  boats  of  various  kinds.  On  the  larger  craft 
the  children  swarm,  and  we  shall  see  them  playing  about 
upon  deck.  The  little  boys  often  have  barrels,  about  a 
foot  long  and  six  inches  thick,  tied  to  their  backs.  The 
barrels  have  closed  heads,  top  and  bottom.  They  are  in- 
tended as  life  preservers ;  for  if  the  children  fall  overboard, 
they  will  keep  them  afloat  until  their  parents  can  pull  them 
out  of  the  water. 

Among  the  queer  boats  of  the  Pearl  River  are  those 
devoted  to  the  rearing  of  ducks  and  geese,  a  business  in 
which  the  Chinese  are  exceedingly  skillful.  They  hatch 
goose  eggs  and  duck  eggs  in  baskets  of  chaff,  placing 
them  in  rooms  heated  by  charcoal  to  just  the  right  tem- 
perature. When  the  little  goslings  and  ducklings  come 
out  of  their  shells,  they  are  carefully  handled,  and  for  five 
days  are  kept  away  from  all  noise.  They  are  fed  upon  rice 
water  and  then  on  boiled  rice,  and  at  the  end  of  two  weeks 
are  put  on  these  boats  and  made  to  shift  for  themselves. 

The  duck  boats  are  built  like  rafts,  with  coops  hung  to 
the  sides.     In  these  coops  and  on  the  boats  the  fowls  stay, 


156  CHINESE  FARMS  AND  FARMING 

a  single  vessel  often  holding  as  many  as  one  thousand  young 
geese  or  ducks.  The  boat  is  now  rowed  up  and  down  the 
creeks  until  it  comes  to  a  low,  swampy  place.  Here  the 
owner  opens  the  coops  and  lays  down  a  board  which 
extends  from  the  boat  to  the  bank.  The  ducks  immedi- 
ately run  out  and  cross  over  the  board  and  begin  to  hunt 
in  the  mud.  They  dig  down  into  it  with  their  bills  and 
pick  out  all  the  worms  and  snails  they  can  find.  After 
they  have  fed  several  hours,  the  captain  of  the  boat  makes 
a  pecuHar  call,  and  the  ducks,  obeying  his  voice,  return  to 
the  boat.  They  come  quickly  too,  for  the  last  duck 
always  gets  a  blow  with  a  stick.  When  the  ducks  are 
grown,  the  captain  carries  them  for  sale  from  town  to 
town  in  his  boat.  There  are  fowl  markets  in  all  the  cities, 
in  which  thousands  of  geese  and  ducks  are  sold  every  day. 


>:^c 


20.     CHINESE   FARMS   AND   FARMING.     TEA. 

IN  our  travels  through  interior  China  we  often  find  the 
farmers  irrigating  their  fields.  The  country  has  high- 
lands and  lowlands,  and  there  are  many  irrigated  regions. 
The  Chinese  rivers  are  mighty  earth  carriers.  They  bring 
down  from  the  mountains  the  richest  of  fertilizing  mate- 
rials, being  often  so  loaded  with  mud  that  they  turn  the 
bright  blue  of  the  Pacific  to  a  dirty  yellow  for  a  great 
distance  on  each  side  of  their  mouths.  This  is  especially 
so  with  the  Yangtze  and  the  Hoan^,  the  effects  of  whose 
waters  can  be  seen  for  thirty  or  more  miles  out  from  the 
coast.  The  waters  of  the  Yangtze  at  certain  times  of  the 
year  are  as  thick  as  pea  soup.  They  are  loaded  with  a 
silt  which  makes  the  land  over  which  it  is  spread  very  rich. 


CHINESE   FARMS  AND   FARMING 


157 


and  the  farmers  use  every  means  possible  to  save  it. 
They  lift  the  water  in  tightly  woven  baskets  to  which  ropes 
are  attached,  and  empty  it  into  canals  so  that  it  flows  over 
their  mud-walled  fields.  They  also  scoop  up  the  mud 
from  the  small  streams  and  canals,  and  use  it. 

Many  of  the  odd  

irrigating  machines 

are  worked  by  cattle 

or  men.     One  is  a 

rude  horizontal 

wheel   the   cogs   of 

which  move  in   a 

small  upright  wheel 

to  which  is  attached 

a  chain  pump.     As 

the   wheels   turn, 

the  pump  raises  the 

water   and   empties 

it  into  a  trough  from 

where   it   flows  to 

the   places   desired. 

A    water    buffalo 

drags  the  first  wheel 

around,    and   thus 

gives    the    power. 

Other  machines  are 

worked   by  men  who   walk  up  the  outside  of  wheel-like 

frameworks,  stepping  always  upward.     Their  weight  keeps 

the  wheel  moving,  and  thus  raises  the  water.     When  we 

reflect  that  there  are  tens  of  thousands  of  men  and  animals 

working  this  way,  we  can  see  that  a  great  deal  of  irrigation 

goes  on. 

The  Chinese  are  a  nation  of  farmers,  but  their  tools  are 

CARP.  ASIA  —  10 


Stepping  always  upward.' 


158 


CHINESE  FARMS  AND  FARMING 


rude,  and  they  have  but  little  machinery.  Almost  every 
kind  of  labor  is  still  done  by  hand.  The  plows  are  so 
poor  that  they  do  little  more  than  scratch  the  soil,  and  such 
crops  as  wheat,  oats,  and  millet  are  weeded  and  hoed. 

Nevertheless,  the  soil  is  so  rich  in  some  places  that  one 
acre  produces  enough  food  for  six  persons.     The  farmers 


-r— -rr-w-^ 

''_! .,^-ii.»'''*- 

-^-..^ 

__^_-_ -■ 

^PP 

iM 

mf 

1      1 

1^^ 

■ll 

y 

i'-Mf^^ 

?y~- ' 

^^W 

Jl 

r' '^H^*'' ■'^ '•' 

y^V^:: 

^^^^- 

■liillH 

klv^i 

'  ^^^^^ft 

h        ■ 

"^'■^' 

»s^ 

■       ._-^.;,^. 

pvki? 

1^. 

'  *«**«^  ■  '""^ 

"d 

"<. 

1^ 

^^1 

'***^ 

'"'"^ 

---^^^^K[^| 

"''^^^B 

M 

l^^^^^^^^ 

■Ill             !■■ 1     Ml     -rafcot- 

-   «—_.==-*- 

J 

—  turning  mills  —  " 


know  the  value  of  fertilizers,  and  everything  is  saved  for 
the  purpose.  Potato  peelings,  the  hair  cut  from  the  heads 
of  the  family,  the  remains  of  old  houses,  and  all  sorts  of 
manure  are  saved  to  enrich  the  soil.  We  see  boys  and 
girls  raking  over  straw  and  even  pulling  the  stubble  to  use 
in  this  way  or  for  fuel. 

There  are  but  few  cattle  in  China.     The  chief  pasture 


CHINESE   FARMS  AND   FARMING 


159 


lands  are  the  slopes  of  the  mountains  which  cannot  be  em- 
ployed for  cultivation.  We  often  see  water  buffaloes  at 
work  in  the  fields.  They  do  all  sorts  of  heavy  farm  labor 
such  as  plowing,  hauling,  tramping  out  grain  in  threshing, 
and  turning  mills  of  one  kind  or  another.  These  ani- 
mals look  somewhat  like  cows,  having  flat  horns  which 
extend  almost  horizontally  backward  from  over  the  eyes. 
Their  bodies  are  covered  with  a  thin  growth  of  black  hair 
which  stands  out  like  bristles,  and  they  appear  clumsy 
and  awkward. 

In  north  China  the  plowing  is  done  also  with  ponies 
and  donkeys.  In  a  field  near  Peking  I  once  saw  a  man 
and  a  donkey  hitched  up 
side  by  side  dragging  a 
plow.  The  sweat  was 
rolling  down  the  man's 
face,  and  he  bent  almost 
double  as  he  toiled,  try- 
ing to  keep  up  with  the 
donkey.  Near  him  I 
photographed  a  man  who 
had  harnessed  up  his  two 

sons  and  a  daughter,  and  was  plowing  with  them.  He  was 
pushing  hard  upon  the  plow  handles,  and  the  children  were 
straining  as  they  tried  to  break  up  the  ground.  When  the 
man  saw  me  taking  his  picture,  he  became  angry.  Many 
of  the  Chinese  believe  that  photography  is  a  magic  art, 
and  that  the  photographer  can,  if  he  will,  compel  the  per- 
son whose  picture  is  taken  to  obey  him,  and  may  cause 
him  all  kinds  of  trouble.  The  plowman  evidently  believed 
I  was  dealing  in  witchcraft,  and  he  tried  to  seize  my  camera 
to  break  it.  I  jerked  it  away  and  rushed  for  my  donkey. 
He  ran  after  me,  but  my  Chinese  servant  came  to  my  aid 


He  was  pushing  hard  upon  the  plow 
handles." 


i6o 


CHINESE  FARMS  AND   FARMING 


and  held  him,  so  that  I  was  able  to  mount  and  make  my 
escape. 

The  crops  raised  by  the  Chinese  are  of  many  varieties. 
The  land  is  one  of  several  climates,  and  it  yields  almost 
everything  grown  in  the  United  States.     Large  crops  of 


"The  leaves  are  picked  over  by  women  and  girls. 


rice,  tobacco,  and  cotton  are  raised  in  the  south ;  while 
wheat,  millet,  buckwheat,  and  maize  are  the  staple  grains 
of  the  north.  Opium  is  produced  by  cultivating  the 
poppy,  and  in  the  Yangtze  valley  there  are  millions  of  mul- 
berry trees  whose  leaves  feed  the  silkworms. 

The  best  of  the  Chinese  tea  comes  from  south  of  the 
Yangtze,  where  it  is  raised  in  vast  quantities.     The  tea  leaves 


CHINESE   FARMS   AND   FARMING 


i6i 


are  j)lucked  three  times  a  year.  The  first  picking,  which 
consists  of  the  tenderest  leaves,  is  the  best,  and  fast  ocean 
steamers  race  with  it  to  Europe,  knowing  that  that  which 
is  first  sold  will  bring  highest  of  prices.  Now  that  the 
Trans-Siberian  Railroad  has  been  built,  much  of  this  tea 
goes  northward  to  it,  and  thence  on  to  Europe. 


"The  tea  is  packed  in  lead-lined  boxes." 


At  Hankau,  situated  on  the  Yangtze  about  seven  hun- 
dred miles  from  its  mouth,  we  find  large  steamers  taking 
on  cargoes  of  tea  boxes,  and  also  factories  in  which  the 
leaves  are  being  prepared  for  the  market.  The  tea  is  fired 
or  roasted  in  mijch  the  same  way  as  we  saw  in  Japan. 
After  firing,  the  leaves  are  picked  over  by  women  and  girls, 
who  sit  at  tables  with  the  tea  on  trays  before  them. 
Their  hands  move  rapidly,  and  they  show  great  skill  in 
picking  out  the  best  leaves.     We  can  see  their  bound  feet 


1 62  CHINESE   FARMS   AND   FARMING 

showing  below  their  trouser-legs  as  they  work.  After 
grading,  the  tea  is  packed  in  lead-lined  boxes  for  shipment 
abroad. 

We  are  interested  in  knowing  how  brick  tea  is  made. 
There  are  many  factories  at  Hankow,  the  business  being 
largely  in  the  hands  of  the  Russians.  In  making  brick 
tea  the  leaves  are  ground  to  a  powder,  and  then  steamed 
until  mushy  and  soft.  They  are  now  put  into  molds  of  the 
size  of  a  brick  and  pressed  into  shape.  Tea  of  the  finer 
varieties  is  made  into  small  bricks  of  the  color  and  size  of 
the  cakes  of  sweet  chocolate  sold  in  our  confectionery 
stores.  The  brick  tea  is  pressed  so  hard  that  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  scratch  it  with  a  knife,  and  it  must  be  broken 
before  it  is  used.  It  is  carried  on  camels  into  the  Desert 
of  Gobi,  and  on  the  backs  of  men  to  Tibet,  where  it  is  so 
much  in  demand  that  it  often  passes  as  money,  each  brick 
being  worth  about  fifteen  cents.  The  Tibetans  cook  the 
tea  with  butter  into  a  soup  like  that  we  saw  in  Mongolia. 

Among  other  centers  for  the  shipping  of  tea  are  Shanghai, 
Hangchau,  Canton,  and  Fuchau,  the  exports  being  sev- 
eral hundred  million  pounds  every  year.  Much  of  the 
product  is  used  by  the  Chinese  themselves ;  a  great  deal 
goes  to  Great  Britain  and  Russia,  and  also  to  the  United 
States,  the  amount  we  annually  receive  being  some 
millions  of  pounds. 

Another  important  plant  found  in  all  parts  of  south 
China  is  the  bamboo,  which  grows  to  a  height  of  from  forty 
to  eighty  feet,  having  a  hollow  stem  with  joints  here  and 
there.  We  all  know  it  in  our  cane  fishing  poles.  The 
bamboo  belongs  to  the  grass  family.  It  grows  wild  in 
thickets,  and  it  is  also  set  out  in  plantations.  At  the  start 
it  looks  much  like  grass,  but  it  rapidly  grows  taller  and 
thicker  until  certain  varieties  reach  the  height  of  a  six-story 


CHINESE  FARMS  AND   FARMING 


163 


house,  and  at  the  base  the  thickness  of  a  telegraph  pole. 
Some  kinds  will  shoot  up  several  feet  in  one  night. 
There  are  two  or  three  score  varieties  of  bamboo ;  some 
green,  some  purple,  and  some  yellow  or  black. 

The  bamboo  is  almost 
as  important  to  China  as 
iron  is  to  us.  It  forms 
the  roofs  and  walls  of 
some  of  the  houses,  and 
also  the  pipes  through 
which  the  water  is  car- 
ried. It  is  used  for  mak- 
ing chairs  and  beds  and 
all  kinds  of  furniture.  It 
is  employed  for  buckets 
and  cups,  and  even  spit- 
toons. Its  splints  are 
woven  into  baskets  and 
matting,  and  they  form  a 
framework  for  umbrellas, 
lanterns,  and  fans  which 
are  covered  with  paper. 

It  is  woven  into  hats  to  ward  off  the  rain  or  sun,  and  of 
its  leaves  a  raincoat  is  made.  It  is  the  old  man's  staff, 
the  blind  beggar's  stick,  the  rake  of  the  farmer,  the  foot 
rule  of  the  carpenter,  and  the  pen  of  the  scholar.  It  is  the 
pillow  of  the  women  at  night  and  their  comb  when  they 
rise.  Ground  into  a  fiber  and  soaked,  it  forms  a  pulp  from 
which  the  Chinese  make  paper,  and  it  is  also  employed  for 
ink-wells  and  vases.  The  tender  shoots  are  dug  up  and 
cooked  as  a  vegetable,  and  the  seeds  are  ground  to  a  flour. 
It  is  also  used  to  make  medicine,  the  green  buds  and  coat- 
ing inside  the  stems  being  employed  for  this  purpose. 


164  INDUSTRIAL  CHINA 


21.     INDUSTRIAL   CHINA 

WE  are  surprised  at  the  industry  going  on  among  the 
Chinese.  They  start  work  at  sunrise  and  often  con- 
tinue their  labor  until  long  after  dark.  Their  cities  are  bee- 
hives of  industry.  In  some  sections  every  little  house  is  a 
factory  in  which  most  of  the  work  is  performed  by  hand 
labor.  They  weave  cotton  and  matting,  make  fans  and 
umbrellas,  and  also  paper,  furniture,  and  earthenware  of 
all  kinds.  Thousands  of  blacksmiths  are  pounding  out 
tools  upon  anvils,  and  other  thousands  are  engaged  in  wood 
working  of  various  kinds.  Every  town  has  some  streets 
in  which  they  make  nothing  but  coffins,  and  others  where 
they  are  manufacturing  brassware  and  copper  utensils,  in- 
cluding funeral  urns.  China  has  a  population  three  or  four 
times  as  great  as  our  own,  and  it  produces  almost  every- 
thing it  consumes.  The  country  has  long  been  one  of 
house  industries ;  that  is,  a  land  in  which  most  things  are 
made  in  little  shops  or  the  homes. 

Within  recent  years,  however,  modern  machinery  has 
come  in,  and  we  now  find  factories  going  up  in  all  the  chief 
centers.  At  Hanyang,  adjoining  Hankau,  on  the  Yangtze, 
about  seven  hundred  miles  from  the  coast,  are  iron  and 
steel  works  that  would  be  considered  extensive  in  any 
part  of  the  world.  More  than  twenty  thousand  men  are 
employed  in  the  smelting  furnaces  and  roUing  mills  there, 
and  they  are  manufacturing  steel  of  all  kinds  for  the  new 
Chinese  railways.  China  has  great  beds  of  coal,  iron,  and 
limestone,  and  it  can  produce  steel  almost  as  cheaply  as  we 
can.  Its  mineral  deposits  are  about  the  richest  on  earth, 
and  it  will  some  day  have  a  large  export  of  machinery. 

Modern  mills  for  spinning  and  weaving  cotton  have  been 


INDUSTRIAL  CHINA 


165 


Iron  Works  at  Hangyang. 


l66  INDUSTRIAL  CHINA 

established  at  Shanghai,  Canton,  Wuchang,  and  other  pop- 
ulous places,  and  more  than  a  million  spindles  are  whizzing 
around  making  yarns.  The  common  people  dress  almost 
entirely  in  cotton,  consuming  so  much  every  year  that  it 
has  been  estimated  that  if  it  were  all  in  one  piece,  it  could 
carpet  a  roadway  more  than  twenty  miles  wide  reaching 
from  New  York  to  Chicago.  Moreover,  the  Chinese  use 
cotton  for  wadding  their  garments,  and  all  their  winter 
clothing  is  padded  and  quilted.  The  heating  arrange- 
ments are  poor,  and  they  put  on  suit  upon  suit  as  the 
weather  grows  colder.  This  necessitates  a  vast  deal  of 
cotton,  most  of  which  is  raised  at  home,  although  some  is 
imported  from  America  and  India. 

During  our  stay  in  Shanghai,  we  visit  the  mills.  They 
are  large  brick  structures  on  the  banks  of  the  Whampoa 
River  not  far  from  where  it  flows  into  the  Yangtze.  The 
machinery  is  as  modern  as  in  our  own  factories,  and  the 
scenes  are  the  same  save  that  the  workmen  are  yellow. 
Much  of  the  labor  is  done  by  women  and  children,  and  we 
see  boys  and  girls  who  toil  all  day  long  for  less  than  one 
cent  an  hour. 

We  find  more  children  at  work  in  the  silk  mills.  They 
tend  the  machines  which  reel  the  fine  threads  from  the 
cocoons  and  spin  them  into  the  raw  silk  shipped  to  Amer- 
ica. There  are  many  large  silk  filatures,  as  such  mills  are 
called,  and  also  modern  factories  where  the  thread  is 
woven  into  cloth.  The  Chinese  were  the  first  to  weave 
silk,  and  China  has  always  been  one  of  the  chief  silk-mak- 
ing nations.  Until  recently  their  weaving  was  done  on  the 
rudest  of  looms,  and  many  such  are  still  in  use  in  all  the 
silk  districts.  At  Nanking  we  visit  the  works  which  were 
established  to  make  silks  and  satins  for  the  Emperor. 
The   threads   were    twisted    by   hand,   and   were    woven 


INDUSTRIAL  CHINA 


167 


together  on  wooden  looms  operated  by  the  hand  and  the 
foot.  Ribbons  are  still  made  in  the  same  way  on  small 
looms  by  women  and  girls  of  the  silk  districts  who  work  at 
home,  often  spinning  and  reeling  out  of  doors. 

But  where  does  the  silk  thread  come  from  ? 

It  is  made  by  the  silkworms  which  spin  it  for  the  co- 


"  Until  recently  their  weaving  was  done  on  the  rudest  of  looms." 

coons  in  which  they  are  changed  into  moths.  Rearing  the 
little  worms  and  properly  feeding  them  to  get  the  cocoons 
is  one  of  the  important  industries  of  China.  It  is  so  highly 
thought  of  that  the  Empress  herself  had  a  silkworm  nurs- 
ery, where,  upon  certain  days,  she  fed  the  worms  as  an 
example  to  the  other  women  of  China. 

We  can  learn  all  about  such  things  by  visiting  the  silk 


1 68  INDUSTRIAL  CHINA 

districts  along  the  Yangtze  River.  We  shall  find  that 
rearing  these  little  creatures  is  by  no  means  an  easy  task. 
The  worms  come  from  the  eggs  of  the  silk  moth,  which  are 
laid  on  coarse  sheets  of  white  paper.  A  single  moth  often 
lays  five  hundred  eggs,  and  the  paper  must  be  prepared 
for  it  and  left  in  just  the  right  place. 

The  eggs  are  of  about  the  size  of  a  mustard  seed,  and 
are  of  a  pale  ash  color.  As  soon  as  they  are  laid  they  are 
put  in  a  cool  chamber  until  the  time  comes  for  hatching. 
They  are  then  brought  into  a  warm  room,  and  placed  upon 
mats  on  shelves  of  bamboo.  The  temperature  of  the  room 
must  be  just  right ;  and  this  is  tested,  not  by  a  thermometer, 
but  by  a  man  who  strips  off  his  clothes  and  comes  in  naked. 
By  the  feeling  of  the  air  upon  his  skin,  he  can  tell  whether 
the  room  is  cold  or  damp,  and  if  so,  he  heats  it  with  stoves. 

Within  a  few  days  the  eggs  hatch,  each  producing  a 
little  black  worm  as  fine  as  a  hair.  This  baby  worm  must 
be  fed ;  and,  Hke  most  babies,  it  starts  life  very  hungry. 
For  the  first  few  days  it  has  a  meal  every  half  hour, 
and  this  consists  of  green  mulberry  leaves  cut  into  small 
pieces.  As  the  worms  grow  older  they  are  fed  once  an 
hour,  and  when  they  are  about  full  grown,  they  need  only 
three  or  four  meals  a  day. 

The  silkworm  reaches  its  growth  at  thirty-two  days  after 
hatching,  in  which  time  it  takes  a  sleep  every  four  or  five 
days.  It  is  at  the  twenty-second  day  that  it  begins  its  last 
or  great  sleep,  when  it  raises  the  fore  parts  of  its  body  and 
continues  to  rest  in  that  position.  During  each  sleep  it 
casts  off  its  skin,  sleeping  on  until  a  new  and  larger  skin  is 
matured. 

When  full  grown,  the  creature  is  about  two  inches  long 
and  as  large  around  as  a  man's  little  finger.  Its  color  is 
amber.     It  is  now  ready  for  the  work  for  which  it  was 


INDUSTRIAL  CHINA  1 69 

made.  It  takes  no  more  food,  and  begins  to  spin  the  fine 
silk  thread  from  its  mouth,  fastening  the  thread  to  a  frame 
upon  which  it  has  been  placed.  As  it  spins  it  moves  its 
head  from  one  side  to  the  other,  continuing  this  motion 
until  its  whole  body  has  been  enveloped  in  a  tightly 
wrapped  silk  shell  or  cocoon. 

The  spinning  requires  from  two  to  five  days,  and  when 
it  has  finished  its  little  silk  house,  the  worm  again  falls  to 
sleep.  It  is  now  carried  with  its  sister  worms  in  their 
cocoons  to  a  slow  fire  of  charcoal  or  wood,  and  placed  so 
near  it  that  it  dies  by  the  heat.  After  this  the  cocoons  are 
put  into  water.  This  loosens  the  fiber,  and  the  women  and 
girls  unwind  the  silk  by  means  of  rude  machines  worked  by 
the  foot  and  hand  or  by  the  machine  reels  of  the  mills.  In 
both  processes  several  of  the  fine  threads  are  twisted  to- 
gether until  they  form  one  thread  large  enough  for  weaving. 
Much  of  the  silk  is  reeled  into  such  thread  for  export;  but 
a  great  deal  more  is  spun  and  woven  at  home  into  the  caps, 
coats,  gowns,  trousers,  and  other  clothing  used  by  the 
Chinese. 

There  is  one  industry  for  which  the  Chinese  have  always 
been  famous.  This  is  the  manufacture  of  porcelain.  In- 
deed, the  word  *' china,"  which  is  commonly  used  for  all 
porcelains,  comes  from  the  fact  that  such  ware  was  long  ago 
shipped  from  China  to  Europe.  The  Chinese  histories 
say  that  their  people  were  making  porcelain  seventeen 
hundred  years  before  Christ ;  and  Marco  Polo  relates  that 
he  saw  it  manufactured  in  China  1280  a.d.,  and  that  it 
was  then  shipped  all  over  the  world. 

All  porcelain  is  made  of  a  fine  white  clay  known  as 
kaolin,  which  is  found  in  many  places.  China  contains 
great  beds  of  it,  and  that  of  such  a  quality  that  it  makes 
beautiful  ware.     The  clay  is  dug  out  with  pickaxes  and 


I/O  CURIOUS  CHINESE  CUSTOMS 

carried  on  the  backs  of  men  to  the  mills,  where  the  stones 
and  sand  are  washed  out.  The  pure  clay  is  then  ground 
fine  and  worked  over  by  men  or  buffaloes,  who  tramp  about 
through  it,  mixing  it  thoroughly.  It  is  then  ready  for  the 
potter,  who  molds  it  into  cups,  plates,  saucers,  and  other 
vessels,  using  the  potter's  wheel  to  aid  him. 

After  the  vessels  are  shaped,  they  are  dried  in  the  sun 
and  then  fired  or  baked  in  ovens  which  use  wood  as  fuel. 
The  fire  is  moderate  at  first,  but  it  is  gradually  increased 
until  the  whole  interior  of  the  oven  turns  to  white  heat. 
This  heat  is  kept  up  for  three  days,  by  which  time  the 
china  should  be  thoroughly  baked.  The  fire  is  then 
allowed  to  go  out ;  but  the  oven  is  not  opened  until  twenty- 
four  hours  later,  for  the  china  must  cool  slowly,  and  the 
cold  air  rushing  in  may  cause  it  to  crack. 

As  soon  as  the  china  has  cooled,  it  is  handed  over  to  the 
painters.  Often  a  dozen  men  will  work  on  one  piece  be- 
fore it  is  finished.  One  artist  will  sketch  the  design,  and 
others  may  fill  in  the  trees,  flowers,  butterflies,  birds,  or 
human  figures  of  which  it  is  made.  After  this  the  ware 
must  again  be  fired  to  fix  the  colors.  This  is  done  in  cir- 
cular ovens  heated  by  charcoal. 

22.     CURIOUS  CHINESE  CUSTOMS 

IN  this  our  last  day  among  the  Chinese,  let  us  consider 
some  of  the  things  in  which  they  differ  from  us.  We 
call  them  heathen,  and  they  look  upon  us  as  little  better 
than  savages.  They  think  we  are  impolite,  and  pity  us 
because  we  do  not  dress,  act,  and  live  as  they  do. 

When  two  Americans  meet,  they  clasp  hands,  but  when 
t\yo  Chinese  friends  come  together,  they  shake  their  own 


CURIOUS  CHINESE  CUSTOMS 


171 


fists  at  each  other,  and  if  they  are  going  in  the  s.ame  direc- 
tion, walk  off  Hke  geese,  single  file. 

We  cut  our  fingernails  short,  but  the  Chinese  let  theirs 
grow,  and  with  them  long  nails  are  the  sign  of  a  lady  or 
gentleman.  The  ladies  sometimes  have  silver  shields 
which  they  wear  over  their  nails  to  prevent  them  from 
breaking.  All  those  who  do  not  work  with  their  hands 
are  proud  of  their  nails,  and  the  scholars,  officials,  doctors, 
and  other  professional  men  often  have  nails  from  one  to 
six  inches  long.  I  met  a  Chinese  merchant  in  Canton  who 
could  rest  the  palm  of  his 
hand  upon  his  chin,  and 
scratch  the  back  of  his 
neck  with  his  nails. 

The  Chinese  do  not 
kiss.  They  Seldom  em- 
brace, and  in  bowing  to 
one  another  they  bend 
down  almost  to  the 
ground.  We  take  our 
hats  off  when  we  enter  a 
house,  but  the  Chinese  keep  theirs  on.  We  ask  first  after 
the  wives  and  daughters  of  our  friends.  The  Chinese  con- 
sider such  questions  an  insult,  and  the  girls  of  the  family 
remain  out  of  the  room  when  men  call  on  their  fathers  or 
brothers. 

Chinese  girls  are  not  courted.  Marriages  are  arranged 
by  parents  through  professional  matchmakers,  and  a  hus- 
band seldom  sees  his  wife  until  he  is  wedded.  The  wife  is 
the  slave  of  her  mother-in-law,  who  has  the  right  to  whip 
her  if  she  does  not  obey. 

In  China  the  men  wear  the  finest  embroidery,  and  the 
high  officials  have  their  hats  decorated  with  feathers  and 


Long  Nails. 


172 


CURIOUS  CHINESE  CUSTOMS 


wear  strings  of  beads  around  their  necks.  The  men  have 
long  stockings,  while  the  women  go  about  in  short  socks. 
The  Chinese  women  wear  pantaloons,  above  which  is  a  coat 
coming  halfway  down  to  the  knees.  When  in  full  dress 
the  men  wear  gowns  which  reach  from  their  necks  to  their 

feet.  A  Chinese  gentle- 
man's shoes  are  of  cloth ; 
ours  are  of  leather,  and 
we  black  them  all  over, 
while  he  whitens  the 
sides  of  the  soles.  In 
our  army  the  officials  are 
known  by  epaulets  on 
their  shoulders.  In  that 
of  China  the  rank  is  in- 
dicated by  buttons  worn 
on  the  cap,  and  by  feath- 
ers fastened  under  the 
buttons. 

The  Chinese  women 
are  proud  of  their  small 
feet,  and  many  of  them 
bind  the  heel  down  into 
the  foot  by  tying  the  four 
small  toes  under  it,  so 
that  it  looks  much  like 
the  end  of  a  club.  Such 
binding  begins  at  three 
years  of  age,  and,  except  when  removed  for  washing,  the 
bandages  are  kept  on  from  that  time  until  death.  This 
compression  causes  terrible  pain,  and,  if  too  tightly  bound, 
the  foot  may  break  in  two  at  the  instep  and  the  bones  come 
through  the  flesh. 


A  Chinaman  in  Full  Dress. 


CURIOUS   CHINESE  CUSTOMS 


173 


We  wear  black  when  we  go  into  mourning,  but  the 
Chinese  wear  white  ;  and  when  the  period  of  mourning  has 
half  passed  away,  they  put  on  a  garb  of  light  blue.  At  the 
beginning  they  send  out  mourning  cards  printed  on  white 
paper,  although  the  ordinary  color  of  the  visiting  card  is 
the  brightest  of  red.  By  and  by  they  distribute  other  cards 
upon  which  is  printed,  "  Grief  not  so  bitter  as  before  ;  "  and 
when  the  mourning  is  over,  they  give  a  feast  to  their  friends. 


The  Chinese  women  are  proud  of  their  small  feet  —  " 


The  Chinese  begin  their  books  at  the  back  instead  of  the 
front,  and  in  dating  letters  they  put  the  year  first,  and  then 
the  month,  and  lastly  the  day.  Their  newspapers  begin  on 
what  we  should  call  the  last  page,  and  the  columns  run  dif- 
ferently from  ours.  They  have  theaters,  but  the  perform- 
ances are  carried  on  during  the  daytime;    and  they  are 

CARP.  ASIA  —  1 1 


174 


CURIOUS  CHINESE  CUSTOMS 


given  watermelon  and  pumpkin  seeds,  at  which  to  nibble 
as  the  acting  goes  on. 

They  have  queer  kinds  of  food,  among  which  are  shark 
fins  and  a  soup  of  birds'  nests.  They  boil  their  bread  in- 
stead of  baking  it,  and  their  eggs  are  eaten  hard  boiled. 
They  pickle  eggs  in  lime,  and  the  older  such  eggs  are,  the 
better  they  like  them.  They  never  drink  cold  water  and 
even  their  wine  is  served  hot.  They  eat  from  tables  as  we 
do ;  but  use  chopsticks,  and  not  forks,  to  convey  the  food 
to  their  mouths:  Most  things  are  served  in  small  porcelain 
bowls,  the  meats  being  cuts  into  cubes.  They  drink  tea 
and  wine  from  cups,  and  both  are  served  hot  and  sipped. 
These  people  do  not  wash  their  hands  before  dinner,  but 
a  servant  brings  a  hot,  wet  cloth  to  the  guests  at  the  table, 
and  they  rub  off  their  hands  and  faces  with  this,  passing 
it  from  one  to  another.  They  seldom  wash  the  whole  body, 
and  it  is  said  that  many  of  them  receive 
but  two  baths  while  on  earth,  one  at  birth, 
and  the  other  when  prepared  for  the  coffin. 
The  Chinese  baby  has  no  cradle.  It  is 
strapped  to  the  back  of  its  mother  or  that 
of  a  servant.  When  it  first  begins  to 
walk,  it  is  given  a  pair  of  knit  shoes  with 
a  cat's  face  on  the  toes,  this  being  sup- 
posed to  render  it  as  sure-footed  as  a  cat. 
The  boys  fly  kites,  but  the  best  kites  of 
China  are  owned  by  the  men,  who  enjoy 
them  as  much  as  the  boys.  Cock  fighting 
and  quail  fighting  are  common,  and  in 
some  of  the  cities  we  see  men  kneeling 
down  on  the  streets  about  little  bowls  in 
which  crickets  are  placed.  These  insects  are  urged  on  to 
fight  by  being  tickled  with  straws,  and  they  fight  until  they 


"The  Chinese  baby 
has  no  cradle." 


CURIOUS   CHINESE  CUSTOMS  1/5 

are  dead.  A  good  fighting  cricket  is  valuable,  for  high 
bets  are  made  as  to  which  will  conquer. 

One  of  the  most  striking  features  of  China  is  the  terrible 
poverty  of  the  lower  classes.  Nevertheless,  the  people  are 
economical,  and  we  are  surprised  at  the  saving  we  see. 
Nothing  is  wasted.  The  stubble  of  the  wheat,  oats,  and 
millet  is  pulled  from  the  ground,  and  even  the  leaves  of  the 
trees  and  weeds  are  gathered  for  fuel.  The  poor  man  does 
not  build  a  fire  if  he  can  help  it,  and  even  the  rich  use  cloth- 
ing rather  than  fire  to  keep  out  the  cold. 

In  south  China  rice  is  cooked  in  large  quantities,  and  re- 
warmed  when  eaten  by  pouring  hot  water  over  it.  To  save 
making  a  fire,  the  hot  water  is  often  bought  from  hot-water 
peddlers,  who  are  to  be  found  on  the  streets  of  the  cities. 
Some  towns  have  a  hot-water  store  for  every  twenty  families. 

At  the  restaurants  all  scraps  of  food,  and  even  the  tea 
grounds,  are  saved.  The  water  in  which  vegetables  are 
boiled  is  sold  for  feeding  hogs,  and  the  bones  are  cut  from 
meat  that  they  may  be  used  for  making  chopsticks. 

Many  of  the  Chinese  cities  have  public  cookshops  and 
soup  houses  which  are  kept  by  charity  during  the  winter, 
but  are  shut  up  as  soon  as  spring  comes,  when  the  poor,  as 
we  say  of  horses,  are  turned  out  to  grass,  for  they  can  then 
live  on  green  things  and  wild  fruits.  Indeed,  the  necessi- 
ties are  so  few  that  for  two  cents  a  day  a  man  can  buy 
enough  to  keep  him  alive,  and  upon  four  dollars  a  month 
can  support  a  family  and  lay  something  aside  for  his  funeral. 

There  is  no  country  whose  labor  is  better  organized. 
Every  trade  has  its  union,  and  the  bankers  and  merchants 
have  their  own  guilds.  The  working  classes  have  always 
opposed  new  inventions,  and  the  officials  have  been  afraid 
to  let  them  come  in  on  account  of  the  trade  unions.  They 
delayed  a  long  time  making  railroads  for  fear  of  the  cart 


176 


FOREIGN   COLONIES   IN   CHINA 


Chinese  Schoolboys. 

drivers,  boatmen,  and  wheelbarrow  pushers ;  but  now  they 
see  they  must  have  these  things  if  they  would  hold  their 
place  in  the  world  as  a  nation. 

For  the  same  reason  the  Chinese  are  establishing  fac- 
tories for  making  all  kinds  of  goods,  as  well  as  gunworks, 
which  are  turning  out  arms  and  munitions  of  war.  They 
are  now  building  their  own  railroad  cars,  are  opening  mines, 
and  introducing  many  new  industrial  methods.  They  are 
a  people  of  great  skill,  and  in  time  they  will  be  sending 
their  manufactured  goods  to  all  the  world's  markets. 

23.     FOREIGN    COLONIES   IN    CHINA 

WE  have  left  the  mainland  of  China  and  are  now  on 
the  little  island  of  Hongkong,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Pearl  River,  almost  touching  the  coast.  Most  of  its  in- 
habitants  are   Chinese,  but   the  island  belongs  to  Great 


FOREIGN   COLONIES   IN  CHINA 


177 


Britain,  having  been  given  up  by  the  Chinese  in  1841, 
after  a  great  war  between  the  two  nations.  It  is  one  of 
several  portions  of  territory  which  China  has  been  forced 
to  part  with  either  forever  or  on  long  leases  to  certain 
other  governments  with  which  she  has  warred. 

We  saw  something  of  one  of  these  territories  on  our  way 
from  Korea  to  China  when  we  landed  in  Manchuria  at 
Dalny  or,  as  the  Japanese  call  it,  Dairen,  and  another 
during  our  visit  to  Harbin,  in  the  northern  part  of  that 


A  Chinese  Passenger  Chair  in  Hongkong. 

country.  The  southern  part  of  the  Liaotung  (le-ou-toong') 
Peninsula  in  Manchuria  was  leased  to  Russia  by  China, 
and  when  the  Japanese  conquered  the  Russians,  this  land 
came  to  Japan.  The  city  of  Dairen  has  many  Japanese 
stores,  and  the  great  fortifications  of  Port  Arthur  are 
manned  by  Japanese  soldiers.  The  Japanese  control  the 
southern  half  of  the  railroad  which  runs  north  from  Dairen 
to  Mukden  and  on  to  Harbin  ;  and  the  Russians  have 
certain  privileges  in  northern  Manchuria  and  over  the  rest 
of  that  road. 

Crossing  from  Dairen  to  Chifu  on  the  Shantung 
Peninsula,  we  can  visit  Weihaiwei  (wa-hi-wa'),  another  bit 
of  territory  leased  to  Great  Britain  ;  and  sailing  on  around 


1/8  FOREIGN  COLONIES  IN  CHINA 

that  peninsula  we  reach  Tsingchau  on  Kiauchau  (kyou'- 
chou')  Bay,  which  was  built  up  by  the  Germans,  having 
been  given  to  them  in  1897  on  a  ninety-nine-year  lease  be- 
cause of  the  killing  of  two  of  their  missionaries.  At  that 
time  Tsingchau  was  only  a  poor  fishing  village,  and  but 
few  ships  came  into  the  bay.  It  is  now  a  fair-sized  city 
with  good  buildings  and  modern  improvements  introduced 
by  the  Germans.  It  has  wide  streets  and  good  stores. 
Great  docks  have  been  built  on  the  bay  and  steamships  are 
to  be  seen  there  at  anchor.  A  railroad  has  been  constructed 
far  back  into  the  interior.  In  1914,  Tsingchau  was  captured 
by  the  Japanese,  who  had  previously  advised  Germany  to 
withdraw  so  that  the  settlement  could  be  returned  to  China. 

Another  territory  which  China  has  lost  to  the  foreigners 
is  Macao,  on  a  little  peninsula  south  of  Hongkong.  This 
is  a  beautiful  place  belonging  to  the  Portuguese,  and  it  has 
been  occupied  by  them  for  several  hundred  years.  It  is 
one  of  the  oldest  foreign  settlements  in  China,  but  is  of 
minor  importance  as  to  commerce  and  trade. 

In  addition  to  the  places  which  belong  to  these  great 
powers  of  Europe  and  to  Japan,  there  are  certain  sections 
or  concessions  at  all  of  the  chief  ports,  where  the  foreigners 
dwell  and  to  a  great  extent  govern  themselves  and  those 
Chinese  who  dwell  in  the  concessions.  In  Peking  the 
Legation  quarter,  where  the  Ambassadors  and  Ministers 
live,  has  foreign  soldiers  to  guard  it ;  in  Tientsin  the 
English,  Russians,  Germans,  French,  and  Japanese  have 
concessions,  so  that  the  place  contains  several  little  cities 
in  addition  to  its  many  Chinese ;  and  in  Shanghai  a  great 
rich  foreign  settlement  with  fine  streets,  magnificent  build- 
ings, costly  residences,  and  large  hotels  has  grown  up.  The 
city  has  newspapers  printed  in  German,  French,  English, 
and  Chinese.     It  has  big  stores  filled  with  European  goods, 


FOREIGN  COLONIES  IN  CHINA  1/9 

and  many  banks  and  exporting  houses.  Its  life  is  a  gay 
one,  and  the  people  have  cricket,  golf,  and  ball  clubs,  and 
there  are  schools  of  all  kinds.  There  are  similar  conces- 
sions at  Hankau,  Suchau,  Canton,  and  at  other  cities. 

But  let  us  take  a  look  at  Hongkong.  When  the  Chinese 
gave  it  to  England,  they  probably  thought  it  worth  nothing. 
It  was  all  rocks  and  hills,  and  its  population  comprised 
only  two  thousand  poor  fishermen.  The  island  is  so  small 
that  we  could  walk  around  it  in  less  than  a  day,  and  it  is 
composed  of  bleak  and  bare  hills,  one  of  which  is  four 
thousand  feet  high,  and  so  steep  that  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  climb  it  except  by  the  cog  railroad  or  in  chairs  swung 
between  poles  which  rest  on  the  shoulders  of  half-naked 
Chinamen. 

Nevertheless,  this  Uttle  island  is  now  one  of  the  richest, 
most  populous,  and  most  important  parts  of  the  world.  It 
has  a  greater  trade  than  that  of  any  other  city  of  Asia. 
More  than  twenty  thousand  vessels  of  one  kind  or  other  enter 
its  harbor  each  year,  and  the  tonnage  they  represent  com- 
pares favorably  with  that  of  New  York  or  London.  More- 
over, railroads  are  now  building  in  all  parts  of  China  which 
will  be  connected  with  Hongkong  by  its  ferry  to  the  main- 
land, and  its  trade  will  grow  greater  and  greater.  It  has 
already  large  factories,  including  cotton  mills,  flour  mills, 
and  sugar  mills  and  shipbuilding  yards.  It  has  magnifi- 
cent buildings  surrounding  the  harbor,  and  great  structures 
rising  in  terraces  from  street  to  street  on  the  slopes  of  the 
hills. 

The  population  of  the  city,  which  is  fast  approaching 
a  half  million,  is  composed  largely  of  Chinese,  but  there 
are  thousands  of  Europeans  and  Americans,  as  well  as  a 
garrison  of  soldiers  sent  out  by  Great  Britain.  Most  of 
the  soldiers  are  Europeans,  but  some  are  Sikhs  from  East 


i8o 


FOREIGN  COLONIES  IN  CHINA 


India,  tall,  broad-shouldered,  black  men  who  go  about  in 
odd  uniforms  with  great  turbans  covering  their  heads. 
There  are  also  Chinese  and  European  policemen. 

We  land  and  take  a  ride  through  the  city.  Its  name 
is  Victoria,  although  it  is  usually  spoken  of  as  Hong- 
kong. We  are  carried  ashore  in  a  sampan,  a  little  boat 
sculled  by  a  woman  with  a  baby  tied  to  her  back  by  a 
square  of  cloth  inside  which  the  little  one 
lies,  its  bare  legs  sticking  out  at  the  front. 
The  woman  stands  up  and  sways  to  and  fro 
as  she  handles  the  oar,  which  moves  the 
boat  onward.  There  are  hundreds  of  such 
boats  in  the  harbor,  upon  which  people 
live;  and  it  is  said  that  the  boat  population 
numbers  forty-five  thousand.  Nearly  every 
boat  has  three  or  four  children. 

We  are  met  at  the  docks  by  coolies  with 
chairs.  They  take  us  through  the  streets 
from  terrace  to  terrace,  and  finally  leave  us 
at  the  railroad  station  from  where  we  can 
ride  to  The  Peak.  This  is  at  the  top  of  a 
hill  eighteen  hundred  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  harbor,  and  we  have  a  beautiful  view. 
We  can  see  great  steamers  bearing  the  flags 
of  all  nations  coming  in  and  going  out  on 
their  way  to  or  from  Europe.  We  can  see 
our  own  ships  which  have  come  in  from  the 
Philippines,  and  an  endless  number  of  Chi- 
nese junks  with  odd  masts  and  sails.  It  is  the  situation  of 
the  island  and  the  harbor  which  makes  Hongkong  so  valu- 
able to  England.  It  can  be  easily  defended,  and  it  lies 
at  the  southern  gateway  of  China,  where  the  ships  from 
Europe  first  come  with  their  goods. 


Sikh  Soldier. 


INDO   CHINA 


i8i 


INDO  CHINA 

SCALE  OF  MILES 


24.    INDO   CHINA 

WE  are  in  Hanoi  this  morning.  Most  of  us  had 
never  heard  of  it  before  we  came  to  Hongkong,  but 
we  now  know  that  it  is  the  capital  of  Indo  China  and  the 
chief  city  of  an  ex- 
tensive country 
in  Asia.  Indo 
China  belongs  to 
the  French  and 
is  controlled  by 
them.  It  is 
much  larger 
than  France,  and 
it  contains  about 
eighteen  million 
people,  who  are 
mostly  of  the 
yellow  race. 
They  are  some- 
what like  both 
the  Chinese  and 
the  Malays,  but 
in  many  re- 
spects are  dif- 
ferent  from 
either.  They 
are  darker  than 
the  Chinese  and 
lighter  than  the 
Malays,  who  live 
farther      south. 


1 82  INDO  CHINA 

They  are  by  no  means  so  strong  a  race  as  the  Chinese  and 
are  far  behind  them  in  civiHzation.  Nevertheless,  they 
have  their  own  language  and  customs.  The  most  of  them 
are  farmers  engaged  in  rice  raising.  Much  of  the  country 
is  irrigated,  and  parts  of  it  are  so  rich  that  it  is  called  the 
granary  of  south  Asia. 

A  great  part  of  Indo  China  is  wild  and  unsettled.  It  is 
to  a  large  extent  a  tropical  jungle  in  which  elephants  and 
tigers  roam,  and  it  has  also  many  venomous  snakes.  It 
has  deer  and  wild  birds.  There  are  alligators  in  the  rivers, 
and  so  many  fish  that  a  great  industry  is  carried  on  in  salt- 
ing and  smoking  them  for  the  market.  This  is  especially 
so  about  Tonle  Sap  (ton' la  sap'),  a  lake  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  country. 

Indo  China  is  well  watered.  In  some  places  the  annual 
rainfall  is  so  great  that  if  it  remained  where  it  fell  it  would 
flood  the  country  to  a  depth  of  seven  and  one  half  feet 
and  drown  out  the  people.  The  streams  overflow  to  such 
an  extent  that  they  cover  vast  areas.  They  bring  great 
loads  of  silt  down  from  the  highlands,  and  at  the  time  of 
the  floods  most  of  the  soil  is  composed  of  earth  washings 
from  the  Himalaya  Mountains. 

The  chief  of  the  rivers  is  the  Mekong  (ma-kong'),  which 
rises  on  the  plateau  of  Tibet  not  far  from  the  source  of 
the  Yangtze,  and  spreads  out  over  a  wide  delta  through 
which  it  empties  into  the  Pacific.  The  Mekong  is  one  of 
the  world's  greatest  rivers.  If  it  could  be  laid  upon  North 
America,  it  would  reach  from  the  Arctic  Ocean  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  its  load  of  rich  fertilizing  matter  would 
exceed  that  of  the  Mississippi.  In  this  respect  the  Me- 
kong compares  favorably  with  the  Nile,  and  its  mud  is 
used  in  much  the  same  way. 

But  we  shall  see  all  this  as  we  go  on  with  our  travels. 


INDO  CHINA  183 

Let  us  take  a  walk  through  Hanoi,  the  capital  of  Tonkin, 
the  province  which  adjoins  China.  The  city  is  situated  on 
the  Red  River,  about  sixty  miles  from  the  port  of  Haiphong, 
where  we  have  landed.  It  has  a  railroad  connecting  it 
with  the  coast,  and  there  are  other  roads  which  go  several 
hundred  miles  northward  into  some  of  the  richest  parts  of 
south  China.  We  see  little  steamers  in  the  Red  River  which 
flows  by  the  town,  and  notice  the  smoke  coming  from  the 
stacks  of  the  new  cotton  mills  which  have  been  recently 
erected. 

Hanoi  has  electric  street  cars  and  electric  lights,  and  in 
its  center  is  a  foreign  quarter  containing  the  palace  of  the 
Governor-general,  some  fine  European  houses,  large  stores 
and  hotels,  a  museum  and  a  botanical  garden.  There  is  a 
little  lake  in  the  middle  of  the  city,  and  not  far  away  is  the 
citadel  or  fortification  surrounded  by  a  wide  and  deep  moat. 
It  is  there  the  troops  live. 

The  native  town  contains  most  of  the  people.  They 
dwell  in  cane  huts  thatched  with  palm  leaves,  having  many 
little  villages  which  are  here  joined  together,  lining  the 
river  for  several  miles.  They  seem  to  work  hard,  but  they 
have  but  little  skill  and  are  less  intelligent  than  any  people 
we  have  yet  seen. 

Returning  to  the  seacoast  at  Haiphong,  we  take  ship 
for  Saigon  (si-gon'),  the  chief  port  of  Cochin  China,  situ- 
ated on  the  Saigon  River  forty  miles  from  its  mouth.  In 
the  lower  part  of  its  course  the  Saigon  is  as  wide  as  the 
Mississippi,  and  deep  enough  for  big  ocean  steamers.  The 
water  is  clear,  and  opalescent  jellyfish  are  floating  about. 
The  land  is  low,  and  here  and  there  the  banks  are 
bordered  with  coconut  palms.  Great  peHcans  with  big 
yellow  sacks  under  their  throats  stand  in  the  water  near 
the  shore,  and  alligators  are  frequently  seen. 


l84  INDO   CHINA 

We  anchor  amid  junks,  which  are  taking  on  rice  for 
export  to  China.  Each  boat  has  two  fat  eyes  painted  on 
the  sides  of  its  prow,  and  the  sailors  are  Chinese.  There 
are  French  and  German  steamers  loading  for  Europe,  steam 
launches  owned  by  the  foreign  officials  and  merchants,  and 
also  many  small  native  craft. 

Landing,  we  find  a  French  quarter  somewhat  like  that  of 
Hanoi  and  a  native  city  of  rude  houses  and  huts.  In  the 
French  town  the  streets  are  wide,  with  pavements  of  brick, 
and  the  houses  have  gardens  filled  with  tropical  trees.  The 
native  houses  are  largely  of  cane  and  palm  leaves.  There 
are  many  warehouses  and  not  a  few  rice  mills  containing 
modern  machinery.  The  Europeans  are  chiefly  French, 
dressed  in  white  cotton,  and  we  see  well-dressed  French 
ladies  carrying  parasols.  They  ride  about  in  carriages  and 
seem  to  lead  a  gay  life  away  out  here  in  Asia. 

The  natives  of  Cochin  China  wear  black  clothes  of  much 
the  same  style  as  the  Chinese.  The  women  have  long  coats 
and  wide,  flapping  trousers  which  fall  to  their  feet.  They 
go  bareheaded,  and  their  long,  glossy  black  hair  is  bound 
in  a  knot  on  the  neck.  The  men  wear  the  hair  long  and  tie 
it  up  in  a  twist  on  the  crown.  The  women  do  not  bind  their 
feet  like  the  Chinese,  and  they  walk  very  straight.  Their 
chief  ornament  is  a  collar  of  silver  or  brass  as  thick  as  a  lead 
pencil,  and  their  dresses  are  fastened  at  the  neck  with  but- 
tons of  gold,  silver,  or  brass.  Most  of  the  babies  are  naked, 
and  the  children  wear  but  Uttle  clothing  until  they  are 
pretty  well  grown.  Nevertheless,  all  are  decorated  with 
jewelry.  During  a  visit  to  Saigon,  I  saw  a  girl  of  four 
years  who  wore  a  gold  collar,  gold  anklets,  a  gold  bracelet, 
and  ten  finger  rings,  and  —  nothing  else. 

Many  of  the  women  seem  charming  at  first  sight,  but 
their  beauty  disappears  as  soon  as  they  open  their  mouths. 


INDO  CHINA 


185 


We  then  see  that  their  tongues  and  teeth  are  as  black  as 
our  boots,  and  that  their  mouths  are  filled  with  what  seems 
to  be  blood.  They  keep  their  jaws  moving,  and  now  and 
then  spit  out  a  bright  saliva.  The  men  and  children  do 
likewise,  and  we  ask  if  the  whole  race  has  sore  gums. 
The  reply  is  that  they  are  chewing  the  betel,  a  habit 
which  is  common  throughout  Farther  India,  Malaysia,  and 
even  in  our  Philippine  Islands.    These  people  take  pride  in 


Bullock  Cart,  Saigon. 


the  custom ;  saying  that  any  dog  may  have  white  teeth, 
but  only  those  who  can  afford  the  betel  can  have  beautiful 
black  ones. 

The  betel  nut  grows  on  the  Araca  palm.  It  is  of  about 
the  size  of  a  walnut,  and  has  a  green  skin  and  a  soft, 
spongy  interior  which  tastes  bitter.  It  has  much  the  same 
effect  as  tobacco  upon  those  who  use  it,  stimulating  the 
nerves  and    taking  away  hunger.     The  native  cuts  off  a 


1 86  INDO   CHINA 

piece  of  the  nut,  and  adds  a  pinch  of  lime  and  a  bit  of  to- 
bacco. He  puts  this  mixture  into  his  mouth,  and  chews 
and  chews. 

We  take  jinrikishas  and  drive  about  Saigon.  The  streets 
are  of  red  earth  so  pounded  down  that  they  are  as  hard  as 
iron  and  as  smooth  as  a  floor.  They  are  bordered  with 
trees,  and  we  ride  under  palms  loaded  with  coconuts  and 
torch  trees  as  tall  as  an  oak  with  flowers  the  color  of  fire. 
There  are  other  trees  bearing  blue  blossoms,  and  fanlike 
palms  which  seem  to  whisper  to  one  another  as  the  wind 
blows  through  them.  We  visit  the  stores  and  find  them 
filled  with  French  goods.  The  country  has  a  postal  system 
run  by  the  French,  and  Saigon  has  newspapers  in  the 
French  language.  We  meet  French  officers  and  many 
native  soldiers  in  French  uniforms. 

Leaving  the  foreign  quarter,  we  go  by  railroad  to  the 
neighboring  native  town  of  Cholon  (sho-ldN^),  where  we 
visit  the  markets.  The  business  here  is  done  in  little  cells 
under  a  great  roof  in  what  is  known  as  a  bazaar.  The 
merchants  sit  in  their  cells  surrounded  by  their  wares. 
There  are  many  jewelry  stores,  and  we  each  buy  a  silver 
collar  to  take  home.  Jewelry  is  the  savings  bank  of  the 
common  people,  and  not  a  few  have  all  their  wealth  on 
their  persons.  Most  of  the  merchants  in  the  markets  are 
women  and  girls.  Here  and  there  are  money  changers 
from  India  who  have  little  piles  of  gold,  silver,  and  copper 
coins  on  tables  before  them.  The  silver  pieces  are  of  one 
dollar,  twenty  cents,  ten  cents,  and  five  cents  each.  The 
copper  coins  are  in  cents  and  one  fifth  cents,  each  piece 
having  a  hole  in  it  that  it  may  be  strung  upon  strings. 
Leaving  the  bazaar,  we  visit  some  of  the  rice  mills  which 
are  filled  with  modern  machinery,  and  then  go  back  to 
Saigon. 


SIAM   AND  THE   SIAMESE  1 87 


25.    SIAM    AND   THE  SIAMESE 

WE  have  taken  a  French  steamer  and  have  come 
around  Cape  Cambodia  into  the  Gulf  of  Siam,  and 
entered  the  mouth  of  the  Menam  River  at  a  few  miles  south 
of  Bangkok.  We  are  now  to  visit  the  Kingdom  of  Siam, 
which  forms  the  heart  of  the  Indo-Chinese  Peninsula. 
The  country  is  about  five  times  as  large  as  the  state  of 
Kentucky  and  only  a  little  smaller  than  Germany  or 
France.  It  is  a  land  of  mountains  and  valleys,  with  low 
plains  cut  up  by  rivers  which  are  often  joined  by  canals. 
Its  chief  stream  is  the  Menam,  which  with  its  tributaries 
forms  a  great  highway  of  trade  far  into  the  interior. 

Siam  has  a  tropical  climate  with  heavy  rains  from  May 
until  November.  After  the  rains  it  is  cool  until  March, 
when  the  hot  weather  comes  on  and  everything  steams. 
In  some  places  the  rainfall  is  enormous,  the  streams  over- 
flow, and  in  the  wet  season  much  of  the  country  becomes  a 
vast  lake.  At  such  times  the  people  go  from  village  to 
village  and  from  city  to  city  in  boats.  The  houses  are 
built  upon  high  posts  to  be  out  of  the  water,  and  also  on 
account  of  the  tigers  and  snakes.  There  are  so  many 
streams  that  the  people  live  largely  upon  them.  Many 
have  houses  afloat,  and  in  Bangkok,  the  capital,  there  are 
tens  of  thousands  who  are  born,  live,  and  die  on  these 
floating  houses. 

The  population  of  Siam  is  seven  or  eight  millions.  They 
are  of  the  yellow  race,  and  their  original  home  was  central 
and  south  China,  from  where  their  ancestors  moved  down 
into  Siam.  There  are  several  different  Siamese  tribes, 
those  of  the  northern  part  of  the  country,  known  as  the 
Laos  people,  having  their  own  language  and  customs  and 


1 88  SIAM  AND  THE  SIAMESE 

being  less  civilized  than  those  of  the  south.  In  the  far 
south  are  some  of  the  brown  race  known  as  the  Malays, 
who  are  more  like  our  Filipinos ;  and  in  the  central  part 
of  the  country  are  the  pure  Siamese. 

All  of  these  peoples  take  Hfe  more  easily  than  those  we 
have  seen  in  Japan  and  China.     They  work  less  and  Hve 


—  upon  high  posts 


largely  from  hand  to  mouth.  This  is  due  somewhat  to 
the  rich  soil  and  tropical  climate  which  supply  most  of 
their  wants.  The  weather  is  such  that  but  little  clothing 
is  needed,  and  no  fuel  is  used  except  for  cooking.  The 
streams  have  fish  which  are  easily  caught,  and  the  bananas, 
coconuts,  and  mangoes  grow  without  much  cultivation. 
Most  of  the  houses  are  rude  huts  of  cane  and  palm  leaves, 
and  so  man  has  little  incentive  to  work. 


SI  AM    AND  THE   SIAMESE  1 89 

The  Siamese  are  a  proud  people.  They  are  fond  of 
jewelry  and  of  all  sorts  of  display.  They  consider  them- 
selves born  gentlemen,  and  show  it  in  their  manners.  They 
are  clever,  but  not  so  energetic  as  the  people  of  northern 
Asia  where  the  climate  is  cold.  As  it  is,  most  of  the  busi- 
ness is  done  by  the  Chinese,  who  have  come  here  in  great 
numbers.  The  Chinese  have  little  stores  in  the  villages, 
and  do  the  skilled  mechanical  work  of  the  cities.  There 
are  all  together  one  million  of  them  in  Siam,  and  they  form 
about  one  third  of  the  population  of  Bangkok. 

Siam  has  great  natural  resources.  Its  moist  tropical 
climate,  heavy  rainfall,  and  rich  soil  fit  it  for  rice,  and  it 
raises  so  much  of  that  grain  every  year  that  it  could  give 
each  man,  woman,  and  child  upon  earth  a  pound,  and  have 
some  to  spare.  It  produces  pepper  and  spices,  coffee, 
tobacco,  and  cotton.  It  is  setting  out  plantations  of  rubber, 
and  we  shall  have  an  abundance  of  bananas,  oranges,  and 
mangoes  during  our  travels. 

The  forests  are  especially  valuable.  Siam  has  more 
teakwood  perhaps  than  any  other  country,  and  hundreds 
of  elephants  are  employed  in  dragging  teak  logs  to  the 
streams  and  in  aiding  the  men  at  the  sawmills.  Teak  is  a 
very  hard  wood  containing  so  much  oil  that  it  does  not  rot 
when  in  water.  It  is  used  in  shipbuilding,  wagon  making 
and  furniture  making,  and  also  in  machinery  in  connection 
with  iron  and  steel.  It  is  worth  so  much  that  thousands 
of  tons  of  it,  in  the  shape  of  great  rafts,  are  annually 
floated  down  to  Bangkok,  and  exported  thence  to  all  parts 
of  the  world. 

Siam  is  rich  in  minerals.  It  has  gold,  iron,  and  zinc ; 
and  in  its  southern  portions  are  large  deposits  of  tin.  It 
has  also  beautiful  rubies  and  sapphires. 

As  we  sail  up  the  Menam  River  in  our  steamer  from 


190  SIAM   AND  THE  SIAMESE 

Saigon,  we  see  many  floating  houses.  The  river  is  wide, 
and  its  banks  are  lined  with  a  tropical  jungle.  There  are 
coconut  and  other  palms  whose  leaves  wave  to  and  fro  in 
the  breeze  and  below  them  are  trees  out  of  which  monkeys 
chatter  at  us  as  we  go  by.  One  species  of  monkey 
has  long,  gray,  silken  hair;  it  is  a  little  fellow,  and  its 


We  see  many  floating  houses. 


voice  is  like  the  cry  of  a  baby.  We  see  also  parrots 
and  other  birds  of  gay  plumage,  and  in  one  place  what  at 
first  seems  a  black  log  turns  to  an  alligator  which  crawls 
down  the  bank  and  dives  into  the  stream. 

After  forty  miles'  ride  we  approach  Bangkok.  It  is  a 
great  city  lying  on  both  sides  of  the  Menam,  and  reaching 
far  back  into  the  country.  We  can  see  the  spires  of  its 
temples  above  the  green  trees  long  before  we  come  to  it. 


SIAM  AND  THE  SIAMESE  191 

There  are  suburbs  consisting  of  canals  running  back 
from  the  river,  with  houses  floating  upon  them,  making 
each  canal  look  like  a  street.  As  we  come  nearer  the  city, 
the  floating  houses  increase,  until  at  last  we  find  thousands 
of  them  on  each  side  of  us  on  the  wide  Menam  River. 

What  queer-looking  dwellings  they  are  !  We  can  see 
them  plainly  as  we  stand  on  the  deck  of  the  steamer.  They 
are  built  upon  rafts,  so  fastened  to  piles  that  the  houses 
move  up  and  down  with  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  tide,  which 
is  great  at  this  short  distance  from  the  Gulf  of  Siam. 
The  ordinary  house  is  ten  or  fifteen  feet  square,  although 
many  are  longer  and  wider.  It  has  a  ridge  roof,  and  in 
some  dwellings  the  roof  is  made  in  two  ridges  so  that  the 
ends  look  like  a  gigantic  W  turned  upside  down.  Many  of 
these  floating  houses  have  verandas  in  front  of  them, 
where  the  people  sit  on  the  floor  and  where  the  half-naked 
little  ones  play  about  within  a  few  feet  of  drowning. 

Most  of  the  houses  are  of  but  one  story,  and  but  few 
of  them  have  more  than  three  or  four  rooms.  We  can  see 
in  as  we  pass.  There  is  hardly  any  furniture,  and  we  look 
in  vain  for  sofas  or  beds.  The  people  sit  on  their  heels 
and  sleep  on  the  floor.  As  for  pillows  they  use  wooden 
blocks  or  bundles  of  stuffed  cotton  of  the  size  of  a  brick 
and  almost  as  hard.  The  cooking  is  done  upon  charcoal, 
which  is  burned  in  boxes  half  filled  with  ashes.  The 
houses  have  no  chimneys,  and  the  gas  from  the  coal  gets 
out  as  it  can.  The  windows  are  open  holes  in  the  walls, 
and  probably  there  is  not  a  pane  of  window  glass  in  the 
whole  floating  city. 

We  land  at  the  wharves  and  find  comfortable  quarters 
in  a  hotel  on  the  mainland.  It  is  on  the  mainland  that 
the  greater  part  of  Bangkok  is  located.  It  runs  for  ten 
miles  up  and  down  both  sides  of  the  river,  extending  far 


192  SI  AM   AND  THE   SIAMESE 

back  into  the  country.  It  has  more  than  one  hundred 
miles  of  carriage  roads,  and  several  wide  streets  upon 
which  electric  cars  go.  There  are  some  modern  buildings, 
rice  mills,  and  factories,  and  also  temples,  fine  residences, 
and  great  palaces  surrounded  by  walls.  The  city  is  like 
Venice  in  that  it  is  cut  up  by  canals,  and  we  cross  many 
bridges  as  we  drive  through  street  after  street. 

We  are  most  interested,  however,  in  the  houses  afloat, 
and  we  hire  sampans  and  spend  the  day,  riding  among 
them.  More  than  one  hundred  thousand  people  in  Bang- 
kok have  their  homes  on  the  water  and  spend  the  greater 
part  of  their  lives  in  such  homes.  Now  and  then  we  see 
a  house  being  moved  from  one  place  to  another.  We  are 
told' that  each  pays  a  rent  for  its  place  on  the  river,  and 
that  when  its  owner  becomes  dissatisfied,  he  does  not  need 
to  call  in  a  cart  or  dray  to  carry  his  furniture  to  another 
location.  All  that  he  does  is  to  untie  his  house  from  the 
posts  to  which  it  is  fastened  and  hire  a  boat  to  tow  it  up  or 
down  stream. 

We  find  the  Menam  full  of  craft  of  all  kinds,  including 
numerous  small  boats  containing  peddlers  and  shoppers. 
Many  of  the  floating  houses  are  stores,  and  a  child  is  often 
sent  in  his  canoe  to  buy  the  supplies  of  the  family.  We 
are  surprised  at  the  number  of  boats.  The  river  is  filled 
with  them,  and  some  of  the  smaller  ones  are  managed  by 
children.  Every  family  has  its  canoes,  and  the  boys  often 
have  canoes  of  their  own.  We  see  little  fellows  rowing 
boats  not  more  than  two  feet  in  width,  and  so  long  and 
narrow  that  the  least  loss  of  balance  would  turn  them  into 
the  water.  Most  of  the  boys  are  naked  except  for  a  breech- 
cloth,  and  all  have  learned  to  swim  like  so  many  ducks. 

We  observe  that  much  of  the  river  craft  is  managed  by 
women.     Some  row  from  house  to  house,  carrying  vege- 


SI  AM   AND   THE   SIAMESE 


193 


tables,  rice,  and  trinkets  for  sale.  There  are  freight  boats 
sculled  by  half-naked  women  who  stand  up  as  they  push 
on  the  oars,  and  boats  carrying  merchandise  worked  by 
wrinkled  old  women  of  sixty.  The  men  do  but  little. 
They  loaf,  smoke,  and  gossip,  while  their  wives  earn  the 
money  required  for  the  family. 

Is  not  this  a  strange  city  ?  Stop  a  moment  and  look  at 
the  people.  They  are  a  short,  stocky  race  with  yellow 
skins,  thick  lips,  and  rather  flat  noses.  Their  eyes  are 
almost  as  slanting  as  those  of  the  Chinese,  but  their  features 
are  different.  Their  hair  is  jet  black,  although  the  aged 
men  and  women  often  have  hair  white  as  snow.  Both  men 
and  women  wear  the  hair  short,  and  it  stands  straight  up 
like  so  many  bristles  all  over  the  head. 

How  little  clothing  they  have! .  It  is  so  hot  we  wish  we 
could  dress  in  the  same  way,  for  the  hot,  moist  air  makes 
us  perspire.  Some  of  the  boys  and 
girls  are  half  naked,  and  those  under 
ten  years  of  age  have  only  a  piece  of 
twine  around  the  waist.  To  this 
small  charms  are  fastened  to  keep  off 
the  witches  and  spirits  ;  the  little  ones 
believe  in  such  things,  and  would  as 
soon  think  of  leaving  off  their  charms 
as  we  would  of  going  out  of  doors 
without  shirts  or  trousers.  Even  the 
children  of  rich  people  go  almost 
naked.  I  remember  once  attending 
a  great  celebration  where  I  saw  a 
Siamese  prince  of  six  years  strutting 

about.  He  was  clad  only  in  a  belt  of  woven  silver  about 
an  inch  wide,  and  a  ring  of  gold  on  each  of  his  ankles. 

The   Siamese  men  of   the   poorer   classes   are   usually 


Siamese  Man. 


CARP.  ASIA  — 12 


194  THE  KING  OF  SIAM  AND   HIS  GOVERNMENT 

naked  to  the  waist,  their  sole  garment  being  a  strip  of 
cotton  cloth  a  yard  wide  and  two  yards  in  length.  This  is 
wound  about  the  body  over  the  hips,  one  end  being  pulled 
from  behind  through  the  legs  and  fastened  with  a  twist  at 
the  waist.  Others  add  a  strip  of  cloth  which  they  throw 
over  their  shoulders.  The  rich  often  wear  jackets  of  cot- 
ton or  silk,  in  addition  to  the  sarong  above  described,  the 
latter  taking  the  place  of  our  pantaloons. 

The  Siamese  women  clothe  the  lower  part  of  the  body 
in  much  the  same  way ;  but  they  usually  add  a  wide  band 
of  cloth  which  they  wrap  around  the  body  under  the  arms 
and  fasten  in  a  knot  over  the  chest.  The  babies  of  all 
classes  wear  nothing  at  all,  excepting,  perhaps,  the  yellow 
powder  which  their  mothers  dust  over  them  to  keep  off 
the  flies  and  mosquitoes. 


o'i^c 


26.   THE   KING   OF    SIAM    AND    HIS   GOVERN- 
MENT.    BUDDHISM 

IT  was  not  long  ago  that  all  the  people  of  Siam  were  the 
slaves  of  the  king-  They  had  to  work  a  part  of  the 
year  for  him  without  pay,  and  he  could  command  any 
woman  or  girl  to  serve  in  his  palaces.  He  had  power  of 
life  and  death  over  his  subjects,  and  when  they  came  into 
his  presence  they  crawled  upon  their  hands  and  knees,  bump- 
ing their  heads  on  the  ground  to  show  their  subjection. 

These  customs  are  now  done  away  with,  and  Siam  is  fast 
becoming  one  of  the  progressive  nations  of  Asia.  The 
king  long  ago  began  to  rule  by  means  of  a  cabinet  made 
up  chiefly  of  his  nearest  relatives ;  and  he  has  also  a 
council  of  forty  members  who  make  the  laws  of  the  king- 


THE  KING   OF   SIAM   AND   HIS  GOVERNMENT 


195 


dom.  He  is  still  an  absolute  ruler,  but  every  year  the 
people  are  being  granted  more  part  in  the  government  and 
in  time  they  may  rule  themselves. 

The  country  is  divided  into  eighteen  provinces,  each 
under  a  governor  appointed  by  the  king.  Every  province 
has  its  own  courts  and  schools,  and  at  Bangkok  is  a 
Supreme  Court  and  other  government  institutions.  The 
chief  schools  are  there,  including  seminaries  for  girls  and 
colleges  of  various  kinds. 


"  His  palaces  are  on  the  banks  of  the  Menam." 

It  is  in  Bangkok  that  the  king  lives.  His  palaces  are 
on  the  banks  of  the  Menam.  They  cover  many  acres  and 
are  surrounded  by  walls  several  miles  long.  The  king 
dwells  inside  the  walls  with  his  wives,  and  the  buildings 
devoted  to  the  women  are  never  entered  by  any  other  man. 
They  are  under  the  charge  of  the  queen,  who  by  law  is  the 


196         THE    KING   OF   SIAM   AND    HIS   GOVERNMENT 

king's  half  sister,  and  must  be  his  chief  wife,  although  he 
may  have  several  hundred  other  secondary  wives.  All  the 
ladies  of  the  palace  have  short  hair,  and  they  are  usually 
clad  in  the  ordinary  Siamese  dress,  to  which  they  may  add 
a  silk  jacket  and  scarf. 

But  we  are  told  we  can  visit  some  of  the  palaces. 
We  pass  the  soldiers  who  guard  the  gates,  and  go  up  a 
wide  drive  lined  with  trees  and  flowers  to  an  immense 
building  of  brick  and  stone  covered  with  stucco.  It  is 
painted  white,  and  under  the  bright  rays  of  the  Siamese 
sun  it  appears  to  be  marble.  It  has  several  stories,  and 
wide  marble  stairways  lead  up  to  a  great  front  door.  The 
stairways  are  guarded  on  each  side,  at  the  bottom,  by  ele- 
phants of  iron  plated  with  gold. 

We  walk  between  these  elephants,  pass  up  the  steps, 
and  soon  find  ourselves  in  the  state  reception  room,  one 
of  the  most  splendid  rooms  of  the  world.  Its  walls  are 
frescoed  with  gold.  Its  ceiling  is  of  pieces  of  glass  of  all 
colors,  which,  with  the  light  shining  through  them,  look 
almost  like  jewels.  At  the  back  of  the  room  is  the  king's 
throne,  with  the  state  umbrellas  decorated  with  silver  and 
gold  standing  beside  it.  These  umbrellas  are  held  over 
His  Majesty  when  he  receives  his  subjects. 

All  around,  placed  against  the  wall  and  half  filling  the 
room,  are  trees  and  bushes  of  the  precious  metals.  Their 
leaves  are  of  solid  gold  and  silver,  and  the  trunks  are  of 
wood  or  iron  plated  with  these  metals.  The  workmanship 
is  as  beautiful  as  that  of  the  most  skillful  jewelers  of 
Europe.  These  trees  are  among  the  offerings  made  every 
year  to  the  king  by  his  officials  and  the  rulers  of  his  tribu- 
tary provinces. 

Leaving  the  palace  we  call  upon  the  Cabinet  Ministers. 
They  tell  us  Siam  is  rapidly  improving  in  civilization  and 


THE  KING  OF   SI  AM   AND    HIS   GOVERNMENT  1 97 

wealth.  The  king  is  introducing  railroads  and  telegraphs. 
He  has  established  post  offices  everywhere,  and  we  can  send 
letters  home  for  five  cents.  The  Minister  of  Agriculture 
says  that  the  chief  crop  of  Siam  is  rice.  It  is  the 
national  food  as  well  as  the  principal  article  of  export. 
The  money  received  every  year  from  that  sent  abroad  now 
amounts  to  almost  thirty  million  dollars,  and  new  rice  lands 
are  being  brought  under  irrigation.  Later  on  we  visit  the 
rice  mills,  of  which  there  are  many  in  Bangkok.  They  are 
operated  by  steam  and  are  equipped  with  modern  machinery. 

One  of  our  most  interesting  excursions  is  to  the  palace 
stables  to  see  the  white  elephants.  Siam  is  called  the  "Land 
of  the  White  Elephant."  There  is  a  picture  of  an  elephant 
on  the  national  flag,  and  it  is  also  stamped  on  the  coins. 
When  the  king  and  princes  ride  out  in  state,  it  is  upon  ele- 
phants, and  the  people  seem  to  honor  the  elephants  quite 
as  much  as  the  king. 

The  reason  for  this  we  find  in  Buddhism,  which  is  the 
religion  of  the  Siamese.  They  believe  that  the  souls  of 
men  at  their  deaths  enter  the  bodies  of  animals  and  that 
every  animal  has  the  soul  of  some  person  in  it  Moreover, 
the  souls  of  the  good  go  into  white  animals,  and  those  of 
kings,  saints,  and  heroes  are  supposed  to  be  born  again 
as  white  elephants.  These  animals  are  therefore  royal  beasts 
and  are  worshiped  as  containing  the  spirits  of  great  men. 
The  Siamese  have  always  treated  them  with  honor,  and 
until  some  years  ago  they  gave  every  white  elephant  a 
special  attendant.  They  covered  his  skin  with  velvet  cloths 
and  bound  his  ivory  tusks  with  golden  bands.  From  time 
to  time  shows  and  concerts  were  given  in  honor  of  such 
animals  and  golden  chains  were  hung  around  their  necks. 
We  have  heard  many  such  stories  and  are  all  agog  to  see 
the  white  elephants. 


198 


THE  KING  OF  SIAM  AND   HIS  GOVERNMENT 


What  do  we  find  ? 

Nothing  but  wild-eyed,  scraggy-looking  beasts  with  long 
tusks  and  skins  not  much  whiter  than  those  of  the  ele- 
phants we  see  in  the  circus.  The  only  parts  really  white 
are  the  long  flapping  ears,  the  remainder  of  the  body  being 


When  the  king  and  princes  ride  out  in  state,  it  is  upon  elephants.' 


ash-colored  in  spots.  Later  on  we  go  to  the  museum  and 
ask  the  scientists,  where  the  white  elephants  come  from. 
They  tell  us  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  healthy  white  ele- 
phant and  that  these  beasts  are  really  sick  elephants,  their 
whiteness  being  caused  by  a  disease  of  the  skin,  and  not  by 
the  spirit  of  any  great  hero,  as  the  common  people  suppose. 


THE  KING  OF   SIAM   AND   HIS  GOVERNMENT  1 99 

As  we  look  at  the  elephants  we  doubt  whether  His 
Majesty  himself  now  believes  that  they  have  royal  blood. 
The  animals  are  kept  in  dirty  stables,  chained  by  their 
feet  to  rough  wooden  posts,  and  cared  for  by  men  who  evi- 
dently hold  them  in  little  respect.  As  we  watch  the  huge 
beasts,  the  chief  keeper  holds  his  hand  out  to  us  for  a 
present.  We  give  him  a  few  coins,  and  he  thereupon 
makes  one  of  the  royal  white  elephants  kneel  down  and 
salute  us  by  raising  its  trunk.     It  makes  us  feel  grand. 

We  go  from  the  elephant  stables  to  the  temples  to  learn 
more  about  the  Buddhist  religion,  of  which  we  see  much  in 
our  tour  through  this  part  of  the  world.  Buddhism  was 
founded  by  a  prince,  named  Siddhartha  (se-dar't'ha),  who 
was  born  in  northern  India  in  the  sixth  century  before 
Christ  and  was  brought  up  in  luxury  and  splendor.  It  was 
not  until  he  reached  manhood  and  came  forth  from  his 
palaces  that  he  knew  of  the  poverty,  trouble,  and  evil 
which  existed  in  the  world.  He  was  then  overcome  with 
sorrow  by  the  woes  and  wants  of  mankind,  and  decided 
to  go  forth  and  learn  how  to  relieve  them.  He  started 
out  as  a  beggar  and  spent  his  life  in  the  search.  After 
a  time  he  thought  he  had  discovered  the  way,  and  then 
went  about  preaching  it.  He  called  himself  Buddha, 
which  means  "  the  enlightened."  The  religion  he  taught, 
many  considered  the  true  one,  and  in  time  it  came  to 
be  called  the  Buddhist  religion.  It  has  lasted  in  one 
shape  or  other  from  then  on  throughout  the  ages  until 
now,  and  it  is  still  believed  by  millions  of  people.  We 
have  seen  Buddhists  in  Japan,  Korea,  and  China ;  there  are 
a  large  number  in  Java  and  Malaysia,  and  a  great  many  in 
Burma  and  India. 

The  religion  has  changed  greatly  since  it  was  first  taught, 
and  it  now  contains  many  strange  beliefs.     In  most  places 


200 


THE  KING   OF   SIAM   AND    HIS   GOVERNMENT 


it  is  but  little  better  than  a  worship  of  idols  carried  on  with 
the  aid  of  lazy,  ignorant  priests. 

There  are  more  than  ten  thousand  priests  in  the  city  of 
Bangkok,  and  we  meet  them  everywhere  as  we  go  through 
the  city.  They  wear  their  heads  shaved,  and  have  strips 
of   yellow   cloth   wound   about  their    half-naked    bodies. 


"  — spires  taller  than  the  tallest  of  the  palm  trees." 

They  are  far  from  humble,  and  strut  along  smoking  cigars 
and  chewing  the  betel  as  they  walk  from  door  to  door 
begging  for  rice. 

We  spend  several  days  in  visiting  the  temples.  They 
are  gorgeous  beyond  description,  and  some  cover  acres, 
having  gold-plated  spires  taller  than  the  tallest  of  palm 
trees.     The  temple  in  which  the  king  worships  has  a  spire 


SINGAPORE  AND  THE   MALAYS  20I 

that  cost  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  gild,  and  its 
doors  are  of  ebony  inlaid  with  mother-of-pearl.  Its  chief 
room  has  a  carpet  of  silver  wires  woven  together. 

This  temple  contains  an  idol  a  foot  high  and  eight 
inches  wide,  which  is  all  pure  gold  and  jewels.  When  the 
metal  was  still  liquid  in  the  melting  pot,  sapphires,  rubies, 
and  diamonds  were  stirred  into  it,  and  the  mixture  was 
cast  into  this  little  god.  It  is  before  it  that  the  king 
comes  to  pray,  and  there  the  ladies  of  his  palace  bow  down 
at  certain  times  of  the  year.  The  idol  is  on  a  pedestal  or 
shelf  high  above  the  floor  of  the  temple.  It  has  a  Httle 
silk  scarf  about  its  neck,  and  this  is  changed  every  season. 


'>»;< 


27.    SINGAPORE   AND  THE   MALAYS 

LEAVING  Bangkok,  we  sail  for  five  days  to  the  south- 
ward over  the  Gulf  of  Siam  to  the  Straits  of  Malakka, 
and  land  at  Singapore,  within  eighty  miles  of  the  Equator. 
Our  voyage  is  through  summer  seas,  and  the  surroundings 
are  those  of  the  tropics.  All  nature  is  changed.  At  night 
the  stars  seem  more  brilliant  than  we  have  ever  seen  them 
before ;  and  Venus  and  Mars  cast  rays  like  those  of  the 
moon  upon  the  water.  The  moon  itself  appears  closer  to 
the  earth,  and  larger  and  brighter  than  it  was  in  America. 
We  see  the  Southern  Cross,  the  stars  of  which  are  not 
visible  from  our  part  of  the  world.  The  Milky  Way 
seems  more  milky  than  ever.  The  sea  is  bluer,  and  the 
phosphorus  upon  the  water  marks  out  the  ship's  track  as  a 
wide  road  of  fire  which  loses  itself  now  and  then  in  the 
darkness,  but  springs  alive  again  upon  every  wavelet  sent 
out  from  the  steamer. 


SINGAPORE  AND  THE   MALAYS  203 

The  sun,  so  hot  at  midday  that  we  dare  not  step  out 
upon  the  deck  without  some  sort  of  head  covering,  goes 
down  in  the  west  in  a  gorgeous  splendor  unknown  to  our. 
land.  Its  dying  rays  color  the  water  with  bright  tints  of 
gold,  which  fade,  one  into  another,  and  finally,  when  the 
sun  has  sunk  below  the  horizon,  change  to  a  delicate 
purple,  and  then  to  a  rich,  dark  blue,  only  to  light  up 
again  under  the  bright  tropical  splendor  of  the  moon  and 
stars.  When  there  are  clouds  in  the  sky,  the  sunsets  are 
grander.  As  we  near  the  coast  and  float  into  the  Straits, 
the  sun's  last  rays  are  filtered  through  palm  trees  ;  and  the 
funeral  song  of  the  dying  day  is  sung  by  a  thousand  birds, 
whose  voices  are  new  to  the  ears  of  the  people  of  the 
Temperate  Zone. 

We  float  along  the  Malay  Peninsula,  which,  though  it  is 
near  the  main  line  of  ocean  travel,  is  but  little  known  to 
the  world.  It  is  in  the  heart  of  the  tropics,  its  rich  soil 
being  covered  with  a  dense  jungle  of  luxuriant  vegetation 
and  its  shores  bordered  with  coconut  palms.  This  part  of 
Indo  China  has  also  forests  of  the  choicest  hard  woods. 

We  are  now  coasting  the  land  of  the  Malays,  the  home 
of  the  tiger.  The  Malay  Peninsula  has  jungles  filled 
with  wild  beasts,  hundreds  of  which  swim  across  the 
narrow  strait  between  the  peninsula  and  the  island  of 
Singapore  every  year.  Tigers  prowl  about  the  villages  of 
the  mainland  and  even  visit  the  cities.  I  was  once  shown 
the  tracks  of  a  tiger  in  the  heart  of  the  capital  of  the 
state  of  Johore.  They  were  plainly  outlined  in  the  saw- 
dust of  a  lumber  mill,  and  were  so  fresh  that  they  must 
have  been  made  only  a  few  hours  before.  The  tiger  had 
run  through  the  mill  at  night  without  attacking  the  then 
quiet  buzz  saw  or  molesting  the  babies  and  children  who 
were  sleeping  quietly  in  the  thatched  huts  hard  by. 


204 


SINGAPORE  AND  THE   MALAYS 


The  danger  of  tigers  and  snakes  is  so  great  that  the 
government  offers  rewards  for  killing  them.  The  usual 
fee  for  a  tiger  is  fifty  dollars,  and  that  for  a  snake  ranges 
from  fifty  cents  to  five  dollars  according  to  size  and  the 
kind.  I  once  saw  a  man  bring  from  the  jungle  into  Singa- 
pore thirty-nine  venomous  snakes,  for  each  of  which  he 
demanded  a  reward.     He  carried  them  in  a  bag,  and  when 


"  —  the  home  of  the  tiger  —  " 

he  showed  them  to  the  policeman,  he  put  in  his  hand  and 
pulled  the  snakes  out  one  by  one  and  killed  them  by 
cracking  their  heads  against  the  ground.  His  hands  were 
bare,  but  he  did  not  seem  to  be  afraid  of  the  snakes.  Why 
he  was  not  bitten,  I  do  not  know. 

The  greater  part  of  the  Malay  Peninsula,  and  also  the 
small  islands  of  Singapore  and  Penang  which  lie  at  its 
southern  end  in  the  Straits  of  Malakka,  belong  to  Great 


SINGAPORE  AND  THE  MALAYS  205 

Britain.     The  mainland  yields  coffee,  rubber,  and  spices, 
and  its  mines  produce  most  of  the  tin  used  by  the  world. 

The  islands  are  valuable  as  trading  centers,  and  this  is 
especially  so  of  Singapore,  which  is  often  called  the  half- 
way station  on  the  trip  around  the  world  from  Africa  to 
Europe,  and  from  Europe  to  China  and  Japan.  The  great 
ships  which  trade  with  the  Far  East  by  way  of  the  Suez  Canal 
stop  here  on  their  way  through  the  Straits  of  Malakka, 
and  there  are  also  steamers  which  call  as  they  go  to  or  come 
from  AustraHa  and  the  islands  of  the  Dutch  East  Indies. 
Our  naval  vessels  and  transports  sailing  from  Europe  to 
the  Philippine  Islands  call  at  Singapore,  and  it  has  ships 
almost  every  day  from  Ceylon,  Hindustan,  and  Burma. 
The  trade  is  so  great  that  a  fine  seaport,  known  as  Singapore 
City,  has  grown  up  about  the  chief  harbor,  where  as  our 
ship  comes  to  anchor  we  are  surrounded  by  vessels  from 
all  parts  of  the  world. 

Landing,  we  are  met  by  a  medley  of  people  from  the 
countries  about.  Those  we  see  on  the  wharves  are  of  every 
shade  of  black,  yellow,  and  brown.  There  are  Malays,  the 
brown-skinned  natives  of  the  mainland  and  the  islands ; 
there  are  Siamese  in  sarongs,  jackets  and  caps,  and  yellow 
Burmese  dressed  in  silks,  with  silk  handkerchiefs  wrapped 
around  their  heads.  There  are  Chinese,  rich  and  poor, 
some  clad  in  silk  and  some  in  blue  cotton,  and  Klings 
from  India  as  black  as  coal  and  as  straight  as  pine  trees. 
It  is  the  Chinese  and  East  Indians  who  do  most  of 
the  work,  the  latter  driving  the  bullock  carts  from  wharf 
to  wharf  and  handling  the  freight.  There  are  Dyaks  from 
Borneo,  Arabs  from  about  the  Red  Sea,  and  Persians  in 
white  caps  and  gowns.  There  are  tall  Sikh  policemen 
from  India,  with  high  turbans  of  red,  Parsees  from 
Bombay,  with  hats  like  inverted  coal  skuttles,  and  also 


206  SINGAPORE  AND   THE  MALAYS 

many  whites  made  up  of  English,  French,  Germans,  and 
Americans,  who  are  passing  through  or  are  engaged  here 
in  trade.  The  city  all  together  has  several  hundred  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  of  whom  almost  all  are  from  Asia  or  the 
islands  near  by.  There  are  more  Chinese  than  any  of  the 
others,  and  we  shall  find  that  the  Chinese  do  most  of  the 
business. 

Leaving  the  wharves,  we  go  to  our  hotel,  which  is  situated 
in  a  beautiful  park  not  far  from  the  sea.  There  are  tennis 
courts  and  golf  grounds,  and  not  far  away  is  the  botanical 
garden,  one  of  the  finest  of  the  world.  During  our  stay 
we  call  upon  the  governor,  and  at  his  suggestion  cross  to 
the  mainland  and  go  by  railroad  through  the  states  of 
Malaysia. 

The  trip  is  delightful.  We  are  in  the  tropics,  and  our 
way  is  through  plantations  of  bananas,  coffee,  and  spices. 
We  spend  some  time  in  the  orchards  learning  how  nut- 
megs and  cloves  are  raised,  and  watch  the  men  at  work 
in  the  vineyards  from  which  come  our  white  and  black 
pepper.  Pepper  vines  grow  much  like  hops.  They  are 
trained  upon  tree  stumps  or  upon  sticks  set  upright  in  the 
ground.  They  begin  to  bear  in  the  third  year  after  plant- 
ing, and  a  single  one  will  often  produce  as  much  as  two 
pounds  of  pepper  per  annum.  Some  of  them  yield  two 
crops  every  year,  and  they  continue  to  do  this  for  many 
years. 

There  is  no  difference  between  the  berries  which  produce 
the  black  pepper  and  white  pepper.  Both  are  from  the 
same  kind  of  berry  and  from  the  same  vine.  The  black 
pepper  comes  from  the  berries  picked  when  green.  As 
they  dry,  they  turn  black.  The  white  pepper  comes  from 
those  which  are  left  on  the  vines  until  ripe,  and  which 
when  picked  are  of  a  fiery  red  color.     The  berries  are 


SINGAPORE  AND  THE  MALAYS 


207 


soaked  in  water,  when  the  outer  skin  falls  off  and  leaves 
the  pepper  of  commerce. 

We  go  to  the  tin  mines  which  are  situated  on  the  Ma- 
lay Peninsula,  and  also  in  the  islands  of  Banka  and  Billi- 
ton  near  by.  The  tin  is  often  in  the  form  of  grains  mixed 
with  earth,  and  it  is  washed  out  as  our  miners  wash. gold 
from  tjie  placer  deposits  of  the  Rockies.     Some  tin  is  found 


A  Pepper  Vineyard. 


in  the  streams  and  some  far  below  ground,  the  latter 
being  carried  up  by  Chinese  who  climb  ladders  with  baskets 
of  tin  ore  on  their  backs.  After  the  ore  is  cleaned,  it  is 
smelted  in  charcoal  furnaces,  being  run  off  into  bricks  of 
about  the  size  of  a  five-cent  loaf  of  bread.  It  now  looks 
like  silver  and  is  ready  to  be  shipped  to  the  markets. 

We  meet  many  Malays  at  Singapore  and  find  them  every- 
where during  our  travels  through   the  Malay  Peninsula. 


2o8 


SINGAPORE  AND  THE  MALAYS 


They  are  the  aborigines  or  native  inhabitants  of  this  part 
of  Asia.  They  are  a  peculiar  people,  in  color  and  features 
not  unlike  our  Filipinos.  They  have  brown  skins,  straight, 
well-made  forms,  and  small  hands  and  feet. 

On  the  peninsula  the  poorer  classes  wear  but  little  cloth- 
ing. The  smaller  children  go  almost  naked,  and  the  men 
wear  a  baglike  skirt  which  reaches  from  the  waist  to  below 


Some  Native  Malays. 

the  knees.  When  a  Malay  puts  on  his  clothes,  he  places 
this  skirt  on  the  floor  and  steps  into  it.  He  then  lifts  it  up 
to  his  waist  and  fastens  it  there  in  a  knot.  The  dress  of 
the  women  covers  the  whole  of  the  body,  and  the  richer 
ones  have  light  silk  shawls  on  their  heads.  The  well-to-do 
men  wear  jackets  and  caps,  but  the  poorer  are  often  bare 
to  the  waist.  The  men  are  proud  and  haughty.  They 
stand  straight,  and  their  walk  is  quite  graceful. 


SINGAPORE  AND  THE   MALAYS 


209 


We  see  very  few  of  the  high-class  Malay  women.  These 
people  are  Mohammedans,  and  they  keep  their  wives  and 
daughters  secluded.  This  is  one  of  the  customs  of  their 
religion,  of  which  we  shall  learn  more  farther  on  in  our 
travels.  The  Malay  villages  are  made  up  of  one-story  huts 
thatched  with  palm  leaves.  The  houses  are  seldom  more 
than  fifteen  feet  square.     They  contain  but  Httle  furniture, 


A  Malay  Family. 


the  kitchen  utensils  consisting  of  a  few  pots,  an  iron  pan, 
and  a  coconut  ladle.  The  family  sit  on  their  heels  or 
sprawl  at  full  length  when  taking  their  ease  in  their  homes. 
The  only  beds  are  mats  spread  upon  the  earth  floor. 
Every  one  smokes,  and  nearly  all  chew  the  betel. 

The  climate  here  is  such  that  one  needs  but  little  cloth- 
ing. Babies  and  small  children  often  wear  nothing  at  all, 
and  we  find  it  best  to  take  off  everything  possible.     We 

CARP.  ASIA —  13 


2IO  SINGAPORE  AND  THE  MALAYS 

are  now  near  the  Equator,  where  the  sun  rises  and  sets  at 
the  same  hour  each  day  the  year  through,  where  the 
flowers  always  bloom  and  the  trees  are  always  green.  Birds 
by  the  thousands  sing  all  the  year  round,  and  the  tempera- 
ture from  one  year's  end  to  the  other  is  that  of  a  moist  July. 

In  our  rides  over  the  peninsula  and  upon  the  islands  we 
pass  through  tropical  jungles,  and  now  and  then  see  coffee 
plantations  and  coconut  groves.  The  green  coconuts  hang 
in  great  bunches  from  the  tops  of  palm  trees,  each  of  which 
is  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  feet  high.  Now  and  then  a 
nut  falls  and  we  cut  out  a  hole  in  the  end  and  drink  the 
sweet  milk. 

The  coffee  estates  are  made  up  of  fields  of  green  bushes 
which,  if  not  trimmed,  grow  to  a  height  of  eighteen  feet. 
The  bushes  have  berries  which,  when  ripe,  are  dark  red  and 
of  about  the  size  of  a  cherry.  They  look  much  like  cherries 
save  that  they  grow  close  to  the  branches  and  not  upon 
stems.  Each  berry  contains  two  seeds  surrounded  by  pulp, 
and  these  seeds  are  the  beans  or  coffee  of  commerce. 

The  Malays  we  see  at  Singapore  are  lazy,  and  we  learn 
that  they  live  from  hand  to  mouth,  working  only  enough 
to  keep  them  from  starving.  In  the  interior  they  are  more 
industrious,  and  not  a  few  of  them  are  now  setting  out 
plantations  of  coffee,  cacao,  pepper,  and  rubber.  The 
country  has  greatly  improved  since  the  British  took  it  under 
their  protection.  They  have  established  justice  and  order, 
and  are  starting  schools  everywhere.  They  have  post 
offices  and  postal  savings  banks.  They  are  building  rail- 
roads and  laying  out  towns.  We  find  hotels  at  the  capitals 
and  stop  at  the  government  rest  houses  in  the  villages. 
Each  state  is  ruled  by  a  native  sultan,  but  the  sultan  has 
British  officials  to  help  him,  and  the  country  is  increasing 
in  wealth. 


IN  BRITISH   BURMA  211 


28.   IN    BRITISH    BURMA 

THINK  of  a  nation  whose  women  wear  plugs  in  the 
lobes  of  their  ears  as  thick  as  your  finger,  and 
whose  men  often  have  their  bodies  tatooed  from  the  waist 
to  the  knees.  Let  these  people  have  olive-brown  complex- 
ions, eyes  almost  straight,  fat  noses,  and  lips  a  little  thicker 
than  ours.  Let  both  sexes  have  long  black  hair,  which 
they  bind  up  in  a  knot  on  the  tops  of  their  heads.  Let  the 
men  wear  turbans  of  bright  red  or  yellow,  and  the  rest 
of  their  clothing  consist  of  a  white  linen  or  cotton  jacket 
reaching  to  the  waist  and  a  gay-colored  silk  or  cotton  skirt 
that  falls  to  the  feet,  being  bound  tightly  about  the  legs 
and  loins,  and  tied  in  front  at  the  waist.  Let  the  women 
dress  in  much  the  same  way,  except  that  their  heads  have 
no  covering.  Let  all  go  barefooted,  and  you  have  some 
idea  of  the  people  of  Burma,  among  whom  we  find  our- 
selves after  sailing  along  the  east  coast  of  the  Bay  of 
Bengal  and  up  the  mighty  Irawadi  (ir-a-wa'di)  River  to 
the  city  of  Rangoon. 

Burma  is  more  than  twice  the  size  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland.  It  is  three  times  as  big  as  Kansas  and  far  larger 
than  Germany  in  Europe.  It  is  a  rich  country,  much  of  it 
being  covered  with  a  vegetation  so  dense  that  nothing  but 
an  elephant  can  force  its  way  through.  It  is  a  land  of 
great  mountains,  of  many  hills,  and  of  low  valleys  cut  up 
by  rivers  which  feed  some  of  the  richest  rice  fields  of 
the  world. 

The  chief  river  is  the  Irawadi,  in  whose  mouth  we  now 
are.  This  rises  in  the  Himalayas  and  flows  in  a  long,  wind- 
ing course  through  gorges  and  hills.  It  then  enters  a 
broad  valley  and  finally  empties  into  the  Bay  of  Bengal. 


212  IN   BRITISH   BURMA 

The  Irawadi  has  a  great  volume.  It  is  loaded  with  silt  or 
earth  washings,  and  these  have  built  up  much  of  the  coun- 
try. For  hours  before  we  come  in  sight  of  land,  we  find 
the  water  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal  discolored  by  them,  and 
are  told  that  the  river  has  had  much  to  do  with  enriching 
the  country.  Another  mighty  stream  is  the  Salwin,  which 
rises  in  the  mountains  of  Tibet  north  of  Lassa  (las'a)  and 
flows  with  many  rapids  down  to  the  sea,  while  a  third  is  the 
Mekong,  which  runs  along  the  eastern  side  of  Burma,  and 
then,  separating  Siam  from  French  Indo  China,  flows  out 
through  Cochin  China  into  the  Pacific  Ocean.  We  have 
already  seen  the  Mekong  during  our  travels.  All  these 
rivers  are  more  or  less  navigable,  and  the  Irawadi  forms  a 
great  water  highway  up  which  steamers  can  go  quite  as  far 
as  the  distance  from  New  Orleans  to  Chicago. 

The  mountains  of  Burma  contain  rich  deposits  of  gold, 
silver,  and  copper.  They  have  mines  of  jade,  and  the  coun- 
try produces  the  most  beautiful  rubies  to  be  found  any- 
where. The  land  is  well  populated.  It  has  many  thatched 
villages  and  several  large  cities.  In  the  chief  seaport  and 
capital,  Rangoon,  where  we  are  now,  there  are  over  a 
quarter  of  a  million  inhabitants,  and  a  night's  ride  by  train 
will  take  us  up  the  Irawadi  to  Mandalay,  which  has  almost 
two  hundred  thousand.  The  population  of  the  whole  of 
Burma  is  more  than  eleven  millions. 

This  country,  situated  away  out  here  on  the  other  side  of 
the  world,  belongs  to  Great  Britain.  It  is  a  part  of  the 
East  Indian  Empire  which  is  ruled  by  a  viceroy  appointed 
by  the  king  and  by  lieutenant  governors,  one  of  whom  has 
charge  of  each  large  East  Indian  province.  Rangoon  is 
the  capital  of  the  Province  of  Burma,  and  here  the  lieuten- 
ant governor  and  his  chief  officials  live.  The  city  has  fine 
public  buildings  and  beautiful  residences,  most  of  which 


IN  BRITISH   BURMA 


213 


are  the  homes  of  the  British.  It  has  great  banks,  wide 
streets,  and  beautiful  stores.  We  call  at  the  Secretariat,  a 
large  stone  structure  on  the  main  street,  and  find  it  swarm- 
ing with  clerks  and  other  officials,  from  whom  we  learn 
much  concerning  the  country  and  people. 

They  tell  us  that  Burma  was  for  a  long  time  governed  by 
kings  who  oppressed 


their  subjects  and  tor- 
tured and  killed  them 
at  will.  After  the 
British  took  posses- 
sion of  the  country, 
this  was  done  away 
with.  The  laws  were 
changed,  courts  were 
established,  and  now 
every  one  has  almost 
as  much  liberty  as 
we   have    at   home. 


OOo5G^|t30CiCt6i         gi 


goSojcgSi 

oqi^SCODDC;.Gp» 
306oD8soq]§q60D^l 

cijSsGcoocvjmcco:* 
ao6soo  oSg6cx>^» 
ocj]8c8» 
cj]^@o;cx)  30oSGCo:9i5t 


oo«£:oqio5gcoo:. 
Several    ra.ilro^ds  ^^^Q^^c^io^oc^, 
have  been  built,  and  ooccSoo^SsobtjO^cogt 
others  are  planned  ooocj]o:o£soqi£scx)^c6» 
which  will  sometime  dq^^co^^^S* 
enable  one  to  go  from  «^^«9^^" 
here  to  China  by  rail.  ^^^•B^°'^' 

We  find  many  Bur- 
mese  among  the 
clerks  in  the  Secretariat,  and  we  learn  that  the  people  are 
intelligent  and  that  they  have  their  own  language  and 
literature.  They  are  far  better  educated  than  the  Malays 
and  Siamese.  Nearly  every  man  knows  how  to  read  and 
write,  and  every  Burmese  boy  is  expected  to  go  to  school. 
The  native  schools  are  often  held  in  the  Buddhist  monas- 


A  Page  from  a  Burmese  Book. 


214 


IN  BRITISH   BURMA 


teries,  and  the  priests  are  the  teachers.  While  in  such 
schools  the  pupils  sit  on  the  floor  and  study  aloud,  shouting 
the  lessons  they  are  trying  to  learn.  The  teachers,  who 
are  sober-faced  men,  with  shaved  heads,  dressed  in  long 
gowns,  walk  up  and  down  the  room  with  whips  in  their 
hands,  keeping  their  eyes  on  the  pupils,  and  the  boy  who 
stops   shouting  is  liable  to  get  a  cut  of  the  whip.     The 


Class  of  Burmese  Girls. 


Studies  are  largely  the  precepts  of  the  Buddhist  religion, 
and  many  of  the  boys  become  priests  after  leaving  school. 
In  addition  to  these  native  schools  the  British  govern- 
ment has  established  some  like  those  we  have  at  home. 
There  are  now  more  than  six  thousand  schools  in  opera- 
tion, with  several  hundred  thousand  pupils  on  the  rolls. 
In  them  the  children  have  the  same  studies  as  ours,  but 
the  books  are  in  Burmese  instead  of  English.  The  boys 
are  interested  in  athletics,  and  they  play  football  and  cricket 


IN   BRITISH   BURMA  .215 

There  are  also  girls'  schools  run  by  the  government, 
although  all  the  natives  do  not  approve  of  them.  In  the 
past  these  people  did  not  think  that  women  should  be  edu- 
cated, and  according  to  their  religion  women  were  not  of 
much  account  in  comparison  with  men. 

The  Burmese  are  Buddhists.  We  shall  see  temples  and 
monasteries  wherever  we  go,  and  shall  frequently  meet 
bareheaded  monks  clad  in  yellow  robes  walking  about 
with  begging  bowls  in  their  hands.  The  whole  country  is 
dotted  with  pagodas,  and  there  are  monasteries  everywhere. 
According  to  their  religion,  every  man  or  boy  must  become 
a  monk  before  his  soul  can  be  born,  and  for  this  reason 
a  boy  is  supposed  to  enter  a  monastery  for  a  time  be- 
fore he  thinks  of  becoming  a  man.  While  he  is  in  the 
monastery,  he  lays  aside  his  good  clothes  and  dresses  in  a 
single  sheet  of  rough  yellow  cotton.  He  now  works  in  the 
monastery  and  goes  forth  to  beg.  He  is  supported  by  the 
gifts  of  the  people,  and  no  matter  how  rich  his  family  is, 
he  lives  on  the  rice  and  other  things  which  are  given  to  him 
in  the  way  of  charity.  The  boy  at  first  acts  as  a  servant, 
or  chelah,  much  as  did  "  Kim "  in  Rudyard  Kipling's 
delightful  story  of  that  name,  and  later  on  he  is  given  more 
important  duties.  While  in  the  monastery  he  is  taught 
the  principles  of  the  Buddhist  faith,  and  is  urged  to  spend 
his  life  doing  good.  After  a  time,  he  may  leave  the  priest- 
hood and  go  back  to  his  home,  or  he  may  remain  and 
devote  his  life  to  the  service  of  his  religion. 

These  people  spend  a  great  deal  of  money  on  religion 
and  charity.  They  give  much  to  the  church,  and  we  shall 
find  rest  houses  and  drinking  places  for  travelers  all  over 
Burma.  We  shall  see  great  temples  and  numerous 
pagodas  erected  in  honor  of  Buddha,  some  of  which  are 
wonderfully  grand. 


2l6  IN   BRITISH   BURMA 

Suppose  we  pay  a  visit  to  the  Golden  Pagoda  at  Ran- 
goon. It  stands  upon  the  site  of  a  temple  which  was 
erected  here  more  than  five  hundred  years  before  Christ 
was  born.  It  is  a  great  gilded  tower,  rising  in  mighty 
rings  from  an  immense  stone  platform,  and  growing  smaller 
as  it  goes  upward,  until  it  ends  at  last  in  a  golden  spire 
which  seems  to  almost  pierce  the  sky.  It  is  higher  than 
any  stone  structure  in  America,  except  the  Monument  at 
Washington,  and  the  whole  of  it  blazes  in  the  sunlight  as 
though  it  were  solid  gold.  Upon  its  top  is  a  golden  umbrella 
which  is  studded  with  jewels.  The  tower  is  made  of  brick 
and  mortar,  and  only  its  outside  is  plated  with  gold.  It 
has  been  regilded  again  and  again,  and  there  is  an  enor- 
mous amount  of  the  precious  metal  in  it. 

During  the  last  century  one  of  the  kings  of  Burma  vowed 
that  he  would  give  his  own  weight  in  gold  to  this  pagoda. 
The  vow  cost  him  forty-five  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  gold 
leaf,  for  it  took  just  that  much,  it  is  said,  to  equal  his  weight. 
The  Burmese  tell  us  that  the  Golden  Pagoda  is  built  above 
a  casket  containing  eight  hairs  from  the  head  of  Buddha 
himself,  and  it  is  this  fact  that  makes  the  place  holy. 

About  the  Golden  Pagoda  we  see  dozens  of  women,  clad 
in  bright  silk  gowns  and  white  silk  jackets,  kneeling  and 
praying.  Upon  the  platform  are  offerings  of  rice  and 
flowers,  and  the  air  is  filled  with  the  perfume  of  the  roses 
which  worshipers  have  laid  at  its  base.  Men  are  bowing  be- 
fore it ;  and,  as  we  look,  boys  come  up,  kneel  down,  hold  up 
their  hands,  and  pray  under  the  blazing  sun.  We  can  see 
that  they  believe  in  their  religion,  and  in  our  travels 
shall  find  that  many  of  them  are  good  boys  and  girls  and 
good  men  and  women.  They  do  the  best  they  can  with 
the  light  they  have,  and  some  are  now  learning  about 
Christianity  and  coming  to  believe  as  we  do. 


(217) 


Golden  Pagoda. 


2l8 


WITH  THE   BURMESE  AT   HOME 


29.     WITH  THE  BURMESE  AT  HOME 

WE  shall  go  out  into  the  country  this  morning  and  see 
something  of  the  Burmese  at  home.  The  people 
live  largely  in  villages,  each  town  being  ruled  by  its  head- 
men or  elders,  who  are  appointed  by  the  government  with 
the  consent  of  the  people.  The  houses  are  small,  and  in 
most  places  are  little  more  than  sheds  set  upon  piles.  They 
have  walls  of  plaited  or  woven  bamboo,  and  the  roofs  are 


Burmese  Houses. 

of  palm  leaves  pinned  or  sewn  to  rafters  of  cane.  Very 
few  of  them  have  more  than  one  story,  and  they  are  usually 
built  upon  a  platform  so  high  above  the  ground  that  one 
can  walk  under  it  without  stooping.  The  cattle  are  some- 
times kept  in  the  space  under  the  house,  and  one  has  to 
climb  a  ladder  or  steps  to  reach  the  first  floor. 


WITH  THE   BURMESE  AT   HOME  219 

The  people  have  but  little  furniture.  They  sit,  eat,  and 
sleep  on  the  floor  so  that  chairs,  tables,  and  beds  are  not 
needed.  They  sometimes  use  sleeping  mats,  and  rest  their 
heads  upon  pillows,  or  rather  pillow-frames  of  cane,  each 
being  of  about  the  size  and  shape  of  a  small  loaf  of  bread. 
Every  house  has  a  little  plot  of  land  at  the  back,  which  con- 
tains some  fruit  trees,  vegetables,  and  flowers.  At  the  front 
it  faces  the  street,  which  is  usually  lined  with  trees  bearing 
tropical  fruits.  Along  the  roadsides  near  the  villages  are 
shade  trees  with  platforms  below  them  where  travelers  may 
rest  or  the  village  headmen  discuss  local  affairs. 

Much  of  the  cooking  is  done  out  of  doors.  The  fire  is 
built  upon  the  ground,  and  the  cooking  utensils  consist  of 
little  more  than  two  or  three  earthen  pots.  The  chief  food 
is  rice,  a  huge  platter  of  it  being  served  at  each  meal.  In 
addition  there  is  a  bowl  of  curry,  a  gravy  like  mixture  made 
of  fish  and  so  seasoned  with  pepper  that  it  is  exceedingly 
hot.  There  are  also  other  hot  relishes,  and  among  them  a 
bad-smelling  fish  paste,  made  by  burying  raw  fish  in  the  sea 
sand  until  it  is  rotten.  In  eating,  the  rice  dish  is  placed 
on  the  floor,  and  the  family  squat  about  it,  each  member 
having  two  bowls,  a  small  one  for  curry,  and  a  large  one 
for  rice.  There  are  no  knives  nor  forks.  Every  one  helps 
himself,  putting  his  fingers  into  his  rice  bowl,  and  taking 
up  all  he  can  squeeze  in  his  hand,  and  then  crowding  it 
into  his  mouth. 

At  the  close  of  the  meal  each  member  is  required  to  wash 
his  own  dishes.  No  drinking  is  done  during  meals,  but  at 
the  end  each  goes  to  the  water  jar  to  rinse  out  his  mouth. 
All  take  a  smoke  after  eating,  the  grandfather  and  grand- 
mother, parents  and  children,  puffing  together.  Sometimes 
one  cigar  suffices  for  the  whole  family,  the  members  passing 
it  from  one  to  another  and  smoking  by  turns. 


220  WITH   THE   BURMESE  AT   HOME 

We  are  delighted  with  the  Burmese.  They  are  kind  and 
polite,  and  make  us  at  home.  The  boys  are  full  of  fun,  and 
show  us  their  games.  The  girls  are  more  free  to  talk  with 
us  than  any  others  of  their  sex  we  have  met  with  in  Asia. 
They  are  intelligent,  and  we  learn  that  the  women  have 
more  rights  than  any  other  women  upon  earth  outside  those 
of  the  United  States  or  Europe.  They  have  equal  rights 
in  property  with  their  husbands,  and  they  generally  carry 
the  family  purse. 

A  large  part  of  the  business  of  Burma  is  done  by  the 
women.  The  native  stores  are  collected  together  in  bazaars, 
each  consisting  of  a  large  number  of  little  shops  under  one 
roof.  These  shops  are  small  rooms  opening  upon  the  streets 
or  passages  which  run  through  the  bazaar.  Each  room  is 
walled  with  goods,  and  its  woman  merchant  sits  oh  the  floor 
as  she  shows  her  wares  to  the  purchaser  who  stands  in  the 
passage  and  bargains  as  to  the  price  he  will  pay.  They  sell 
silks,  cottons,  cigars,  jewelry,  and  many  other  articles.  Very 
few  of  them  can  read  or  write,  but  all  are  able  to  count 
quickly,  and  they  understand  how  to  bargain. 

Girls  often  go  into  the  bazaars,  and  remain  there  selling 
goods  until  they  get  husbands.  In  Burma  love  making  is 
carried  on  in  somewhat  the  same  way  as  with  us ;  and  the 
Burmese  husband  has,  as  a  rule,  but  one  wife,  although  more 
are  permitted.  Parents  usually  arrange  marriages  without 
asking  the  consent  of  their  son  or  daughter  who  is  to  be 
married;  but  elopements  are  common,  and  engagements 
are  sometimes  made  by  the  young  people  themselves. 

The  marriage  consists  of  the  eating  together  of  rice  out 
of  one  bowl  in  the  presence  of  friends,  and  of  promising 
before  them  to  live  together  henceforth  as  man  and  wife. 
The  Burmese  believe  that  women  should  marry,  as  will  be 
seen  from  one  of  their  proverbs,  which  reads  as  follows  :  — 


WITH  THE  BURMESE  AT  HOME 


221 


"  Monks  are  beautiful  when  they  are  lean,  four-footed  ani- 
mals when  they  are  fat,  men  when  they  are  learned,  and 
women  when  they  are  married.'* 

As  we  go  on  with  our  travels  through  Burma,  we  find  that 
the  people  have  many  curious  customs.  For  instance, 
nearly  every  boy  has 
his  legs  tattooed  from 
the  waist  to  the  knees, 
and  he  looks  upon  this 
coat  of  tattooing  as  a 
sign  of  manhood,  gladly 
submitting  to  the  pain 
he  must  undergo  to  se- 
cure it.  The  work  is 
done  by  a  professional 
tattooer,  who  uses  a 
steel  pricker  which  has 
at  its  end  four  split 
points  as  sharp  as  nee- 
dles. These  points  are 
dipped  into  ink  and 
then  thrust  into  the 
skin,  carrying  the  ink 
under  the  surface.  The 
tattooer  takes  up  the 
skin  in  his  hand  and 
pinches  it,  while  he  thus 
pierces  it  with  the  inked 
needles  which  are  to  discolor  it  forever.  In  this  way  he 
makes  pictures  all  over  the  boy's  thighs,  so  that  when  the 
tattooing  is  completed  he  looks  as  though  he  were  dressed 
in  kid  tights  covered  with  red  and  blue  figures  of  serpents, 
tigers,  ogres,  and  demons.     Such  tattooing  is  not  done  all 


Mother  and  Son,  the  Latter  partly  Tattooed. 


222  WITH  THE  BURMESE  AT   HOME 

at  once,  but  figure  by  figure,  as  the  boy  can  stand  the  pain. 
It  takes  some  years  before  one  can  get  a  full  coat. 

The  Burmese  are  superstitious  and  they  believe  that 
certain  tattooed  figures  will  ward  off  diseases.  One,  for  in- 
stance, is  a  protection  from  snake  bites,  and  another  will 
keep  one  from  drowning.  A  third  figure  is  especially  prized 
by  the  schoolboy ;  for  it  prevents,  so  they  tell  us,  his  feeling 
the  whip  when  punished. 

We  are  also  struck  by  the  plugs  of  gold,  silver,  or  glass 
which  the  girls  wear  in  their  ears  and  which  they  prize 
quite  as  much  as  the  boys  do  their  coats  of  tattooing.  A 
girl  is  not  considered  a  woman  until  after  her  ears  have  been 
pierced,  and  she  is  as  anxious  to  have  her  first  ear  plugs  as 
our  girls  are  to  have  their  first  long  dresses. 

This  is  so,  notwithstanding  the  pain  that  comes  from 
making  and  enlarging  the  holes.  The  work  begins  when 
the  girl  has  reached  the  age  of  twelve  or  thirteen,  which 
occasion  is  celebrated  by  a  feast  to  which  all  the  friends 
and  relatives  are  invited.  When  the  party  has  assembled, 
the  girl  lies  down  on  a  mat  and  a  professional  ear  borer 
thrusts  a  gold  needle  through  the  lobe  of  each  of  her  ears, 
twisting  it  around  so  that  it  forms  a  ring,  which  is  left 
in  the  ear.  As  the  needle  goes  through,  the  girl  screams 
with  pain,  but  her  cries  are  drowned  by  the  music  of  a 
band  which  plays  outside  the  house. 

It  takes  the  ear  some  time  to  heal,  and  then  the  process 
of  making  the  holes  larger  begins.  The  needle  is  now 
taken  out,  and  a  fine  gold  plate,  tightly  rolled  up,  is  in- 
serted. This  plate  is  gradually  opened  from  week  to  week 
until  the  hole  has  been  stretched  to  the  size  of  your  little 
finger,  or  larger. 

The  poor,  who  cannot  afford  gold,  use  silver  needles  for 
piercing  and  stems  of  grass  for  enlarging  the  lobes,  insert- 


THE  WORKING  ELEPHANTS   IN  BURMA 


223 


ing  one  stem  after  another  until  they  have  a  bunch  of  grass 
as  big  around  as  your  thumb  in  each  ear. 

After  a  long  time,  when  the  holes  have  become  of  the 
proper  size,  the  ear  plugs  or  hollow  pieces  of  gold  or  some 
cheaper  material  are  put  in,  the  plugs  being  as  costly  as  the 
girl  can  afford.  Some  are  set  with  jewels,  some  are  of 
glass,  and  others  of  amber.  The  holes  thus  made  are  so 
large  that  a  man  could  easily  put  his  thumb  through  them, 
and  a  common  sight  is  a  woman  carrying  a  big  cigar  in 
her  ear. 

30.     THE  WORKING  ELEPHANTS   IN    BURMA 

ONE  of  the  great  sights  of  Burma  is  the  elephants  at 
work. 

Elephants  at  work  ?  I  hear  some  one  ask.  What  do  you 
mean  ?  Do  these  great,  clumsy  beasts  actually  do  any- 
thing except  carry  men  on 
their  backs  ? 

Yes,  indeed.  But  they 
are  not  clumsy.  They  are 
among  the  most  intelli- 
gent animals  of  the  world. 
Let  us  visit  the  lumber- 
yards at  Rangoon.  There 
we  shall  find  these  beasts 
carrying  great  logs.  They 
move  piles  of  lumber,  and 

they   obey    the    orders   of  Elephant  carrying  a  Beam. 

their  masters  almost  as  though  they  were  men  and  could 
understand  what  is  said. 

There  is  one  carrying  a  teak  log  on  his  tusks.     The 
elephant  has  thrown  his  trunk  over  the  top  of  the  log,  and 


224 


THE  WORKING   ELEPHANTS  IN   BURMA 


he  balances  his  long,  heavy  burden  in  the  air  as  he  moves 
slowly  onward,  picking  his  way  in  and  out  through  the 
piles  of  lumber.  His  master  is  a  dark-skinned,  half-naked 
man,  dressed  in  a  white  waistcloth  and  jacket,  and  with  a 
red  handkerchief  tied  about  his  black  head.  He  sits  on 
the  animal's  neck  just  back  of  the  great  flapping  ears,  with 
his  bare  legs  hanging  down  on  each  side.  He  speaks  to  the 
elephant  now  and  then,  and  when  it  does  not  obey,  he  thrusts 

into  its  skin  the  point  of  a 
short  brass  hook  fastened 
to  the  end  of  the  stick 
which  he  has  in  his  hand. 
We  follow  the  elephant 
to  see  what  he  will  do 
with  the  log.  He  carries 
it  to  the  sawmill  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  yard 
where  is  a  truck  upon 
wheels,  so  placed  that 
the  logs  upon  it  can  be 
moved  against  the  circular  saw  by  which  they  are  to  be  di- 
vided into  boards.  The  elephant  takes  his  log  to  this  truck. 
He  lays  it  lengthwise  upon  the  truck,  and  with  his  tusks  and 
trunk  moves  it  into  just  the  proper  place  for  the  saw. 

There  is  another  elephant  piling  logs.  He  has  laid  the 
logs  regularly,  one  on  top  of  another,  as  evenly  as  though 
he  had  calculated  their  order  by  measure.  See  how  he 
raises  that  log  in  order  to  carry  it  to  the  pile !  He  goes  to 
the  center  of  the  log  and  gets  down  on  his  knees  before  it. 
Next  he  thrusts  his  tusks  under  it,  and  then,  throwing  his 
trunk  over  the  top,  rises  slowly  upward  with  his  heavy 
burden  nicely  balanced,  and  thus  takes  it  to  the  pile. 
At  first  he  can  roll  the  log  upon  the  pile  without  trouble, 


THE   WORKING   ELEPHANTS   IN  BURMA 


225 


but  as  this  becomes  higher  he  has  to  lift  the  log  to  the  top. 
To  accomplish  this  he  stands  it  upon  end,  propping  it 
against  the  pile;  then,  placing  his  tusks  under  the  lower 
end  of  the  log,  he  slides  it  up  off  the  ground,  and  with  a 
kick  sends  it  flying  into  its  place. 

There  goes  a  bell !  It  is  noon,  and  that  is  the  signal  for 
the  men  in  the  yard  to  stop  work  for  dinner.  We  find 
that  the  elephants  stop,  too.  They  do  not  wait  for  orders' 
from  their  drivers ;  but  as 
the,  sound  of  the  bell  first 
falls  on  their  ears,  they 
drop  their  loads  and  bolt 
for  the  feeding  shed. 
Their  drivers  tell  us  that 
they  cannot  make  the 
animals  work  after  the 
bell  has  been  rung.  They 
say  also  that  a  working 
elephant    must    be    fed  "  He  must  have  his  bath-" 

regularly  and  have  his  bath  twice  a  day.  He  becomes  rest- 
less if  anything  gets  under  the  cloth  upon  his  back,  and 
will  tremble  like  a  woman  at  the  sight  of  a  mouse,  for  fear 
that  the  little  animal  may  run  up  his  trunk. 

At  one  of  the  yards  I  saw  the  men  washing  the  beasts. 
The  elephants  sat  down  while  buckets  of  water  were  thrown 
over  them,  and  their  masters  scrubbed  them  with  rough 
brushes.  As  the  water  was  dashed  upon  them  they  wagged 
their  tails,  flapped  their  ears,  and  grunted  in  joy. 

As  we  leave  the  lumberyards  we  throw  some  silver  to 
the  rider  of  one  of  the  elephants.  The  man  catches  it. 
He  speaks  to  his  elephant,  and  the  great  beast  throws  its 
trunk  high  up  into  the  air  and  gives  us  a  salute,  as  though 
it  knew  that  we  had  been  kind  to  his  master. 
CARP.  ASIA  — 14 


226  THE  WORKING  ELEPHANTS  IN  BURMA 

Elephants  are  used  in  clearing  the  teak  forests  and  in 
getting  the  timber  out  to  the  streams.  They  not  only  carry 
the  logs  to  the  rivers,  but  aid  in  shoving  them  about  in  the 
water.  They  wade  or  swim  according  as  the  river  is  shal- 
low or  deep,  and  tow  the  logs  this  way  and  that.  When 
the  rafts  have  reached  port  or  are  piled  up,  they  break  the 
booms  by  pushing  out  the  key  log,  and  they  will  take  the 
timbers  from  the  river  and  load  them  on  the  cars  which 
are  to  carry  them  to  the  mills. 

In  some  places  where  the  elephants  labor  together  there 
are  boss  elephants  which  keep  the  other  beasts  up  to  their 
work  pounding  them  with  their  trunks  when  they  lag.  In 
the  lumberyards  each  elephant  has  his  own  peculiar  job, 
one  carrying  the  hay  for  the  stables  and  aiding  in  mixing 
the  bran,  molasses,  and  other  food  which  form  the  rations 
of  the  elephants. 

These  huge  beasts  are  used  also  for  farming.  They 
drag  the  heavy  plows  which  break  up  the  matted  soil  of 
the  jungle,  and  aid  in  turning  it  into  farms.  The  elephant 
plow  is  a  two-wheeled  instrument  with  a  heavy  share 
fastened  to  it.  One  man  holds  the  handles  of  the  plow 
and  presses  the  share  into  the  earth.  Another  sits  on  the 
neck  of  the  elephant,  and  a  third,  walking  by  his  side,  aids 
in  directing  the  huge  animal  along  the  furrow. 

Traveling  in  Upper  Burma  is  done  upon  elephants. 
They  are  the  only  beasts  by  which  we  can  make  our  way 
through  the  jungle.  They  can  pull  the  branches  aside 
with  their  tusks,  and  push  their  way  through  the  thickest 
of  the  tropical  vegetation.  They  can  swim  rivers  and 
climb  hills ;  and  it  is  said,  that,  when  they  come  to  very 
steep  places,  they  sometimes  sit  down  on  their  hind 
legs  and  slide  down  in  preference  to  risking  a  fall  by 
walking. 


INDUSTRIAL  BURMA.     RICE  22/ 


31.     INDUSTRIAL   BURMA.     RICE 

WE  are  on  the  Irawadi  River  this  morning.  We  have 
taken  the  steamer  and  are  traveling  northward 
through  the  interior  of  Burma.  Our  accommodations  are 
good,  and  as  we  sit  on  the  deck  we  can  see  the  rich  lands 
on  both  sides  of  the  river.  We  ride  for  miles  through  broad 
fields  of  rice.  This  is  the  great  crop  of  the  country.  The 
people  depend  upon  the  rice  crop,  and  they  are  prosperous 
or  the  reverse  as  the  rice  grows  well  or  ill.  It  brings  in 
more  money  than  anything  else,  the  annual  exports  amount- 
ing to  thousands  of  millions  of  pounds.  Indeed,  Burma 
sells  enough  rice  every  year  to  give  every  man,  woman, 
and  child  upon  earth  all  he  could  eat  in  one  day  and  still 
leave  hundreds  of  millions  of  pounds. 

The  valley  of  the  Irawadi  is  largely  made  up  of  rice 
lands.  We  see  men  here  and  there  plowing.  They  drive 
water  buffaloes  through  the  mud,  turning  the  soil  with 
plows  of  wood.  In  some  places  the  plows  hardly  scratch 
the  soil,  and  in  others  the  children  are  driving  buffaloes 
and  oxen  over  the  wet  lands  which  are  thus  broken  up  by 
their  hoofs.  A  little  later  logs  and  brush  will  be  dragged 
over  the  ground  to  smooth  it.  In  other  places  the  farming 
is  more  carefully  done ;  for  the  British  are  teaching  the 
natives  how  to  get  more  out  of  their  lands. 

In  growing  rice,  the  seed  is  sown  broadcast,  or  in  nurs- 
eries from  which  the  young  plants  are  afterwards  taken  and 
set  out  in  regular  rows.  This  is  done  by  the  women  and 
children,  the  lazy  men  usually  sitting  on  the  edge  of  the 
fields  and  watching  them  work.  The  transplanting  takes 
place  about  a  month  after  sowing,  at  which  time  the  plants 
have  grown  a  foot  high.     They  are  now  pulled  up  and 


228 


INDUSTRIAL  BURMA.     RICE 


carried  on  poles,  in  bundles  of  about  a  thousand  each,  to 
the  fields.  The  women  make  a  hole  in  the  earth  with 
their  fingers,  and  thrust  down  a  tuft  of  three  or  four  plants 
in  it,  and  then  squeeze  the  earth  tight  around  it.     These 

tufts  are  set  out  about  a  foot 
apart,  and  there  are  about 
forty-five  thousand  of  them 
to  one  acre. 

The  rice  crop  must  have 
plenty  of  water.  In  some 
parts  of  the  country  the  rains 
are  sufficient,  but  in  others 
the  lands  are  irrigated,  the 
fields  being  flooded  from  time 
to  time.  As  the  grain  ma- 
tures, the  water  is  taken  off. 
The  rice  soon  turns  from 
green  to  yellow,  and  each 
field  looks  not  unlike  one  of 
ripe  wheat  or  oats. 

The  rice  is  harvested  with 
sickles,  but  little  more  than 
the  heads  being  cut  off.  It 
is  partially  threshed  by  lay- 
ing it  on  a  hard  piece  of 
ground,  and  driving  bullocks 
over  it.  After  that  it  is  taken 
to  the  rivers  and  shipped  to 
Rangoon  or  other  ports,  from 


Children  from  Upper  Burma. 


where  it  is  sent  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 

A  grain  of  rice  when  it  leaves  the  farmer  is  much  like 
a  grain  of  wheat  with  the  husk  on.  This  husk  must  be 
taken  off  before  the  rice  can  be  used,  and  Burma  has  great 


INDUSTRIAL  BURMA.     RICE  229 

steam  mills  for  this  purpose  which  employ  thousands  of 
men.  They  are  not  unlike  the  huge  flouring  mills  of 
America. 

Suppose  we  visit  one  of  the  mills  and  see  how  rice 
cleaning  is  done.  There  are  some  very  large  ones  on  the 
edge  of  Rangoon.  The  grain  comes  down  in  boats  and 
is  carried  in  baskets  oii  the  backs  and  shoulders  of  girls 
up  to  the  mills.  Here  it  is  passed  through  one  pair  of  mill- 
stones after  another.  Each  pair  tears  off  a  bit  of  the 
husk,  until  at  last  we  have  the  white  grains  which  we  use 
for  eating. 

After  the  husk  is  removed,  the  rice  must  be  smoothed 
up  for  the  market.  It  is  strange  to  think  of  polishing  grain 
as  we  polish  silver  spoons,  but  that  is  what  is  done  with  rice. 
The  husked  grains  are  thrown  by  machinery  against  rollers 
covered  with  sheepskin  as  soft  as  the  inside  of  a  kid  glove. 
They  are  brought  into  contact  with  these  rollers  again  and 
again,  until  they  are  as  white  as  freshly  slaked  lime  and  per- 
fectly smooth. 

As  we  go  on  our  way  up  the  river,  we  now  and  then  pass 
smalj  cotton  plantations,  and  here  and  there  find  the  people 
rearing  the  silkworms  from  which  come  the  beautiful  silks 
so  commonly  worn  by  the  Burmese.  We  stop  at  the  oil 
fields,  which  are  now  producing  a  great  deal  of  petroleum, 
and  then  make  an  excursion  to  the  Mogok  Valley,  about 
ninety  miles  from  Mandalay,  from  whence  come  the  most 
beautiful  rubies  known  to  the  world.  A  fine  ruby  is  even 
more  valuable  than  a  diamond  of  the  same  weight.  It  has 
been  estimated  that  one,  of  the  color  of  pigeon's  blood, 
weighing  five  carats  will  sell  for  several  times  as  much  as 
a  five-carat  diamond,  and  that  the  proportionate  price  of 
the  ruby  will  increase  with  its  size.  A  ruby  which  weighed 
eleven  carats  was  recently  sold. in  London  for  thirty-five 


230 


INDUSTRIAL  BURMA.     RICE 


thousand  dollars ;  whereas  a  diamond  of  that  size  would 
not  bring  more  than  one  fifth  that  amount. 

Rubies  are  found  in  a  layer  of  gravel  or  sand  which  lies 
at  some  distance  below  the  earth's  surface.  The  clay  is 
dug  away,  and  the  gravel  is  taken  out  and  washed.  It  is 
then  picked  over,  and  the  rubies  are  sorted  according  to 
their  quaUty  and  size.     The  best  of  the  stones  are  sent  to 

London,  where  they  are 
sold  to  jewelers  from  all 
parts  of  the  world. 

Going  back  to  the 
river,  we  proceed  north- 
ward to  Bhamo  (ba-mo'), 
a  thriving  city  on  the 
trade  route  to  China. 
We  are  now  not  far 
from  the  borders  of  that 
great  country,  and  we 
could  by  an  easy  trip 
make  our  way  there. 
The  scenery  on  the  up- 
per part  of  the  Irawadi 
is  noted  for  its  magnifi- 
cence. The  river  is 
clear  and  deep,  and  it 
winds  between  high  cliffs  covered  with  forests. 

In  the  northern  part  of  the  country,  many  strange  men 
and  women  come  down  to  our  steamer.  They  wear  but 
little  clothing,  although  they  are  almost  loaded  with 
jewelry  of  brass  and  other  metals.  Among  them  are  the 
Shans,  Kachins,  and  Chins;  some  of  them  are  quite  savage, 
and  all  are  less  civilized  than  the  Burmese.  A  few  of  the 
tribes  go  almost  naked,  and  some  worship  spirits. 


Shan  Women. 


INDUSTRIAL  BURMA.     RICE  23 1 

The  Shans  have  lighter  complexions  than  the  Burmese, 
and  they  are  especially  noted  for  their  fine  coats  of  tattoo- 
ing. They  are  muscular,  well-formed,  and  are  about  an 
inch  taller.  They  wear  trousers  and  jackets,  and  many 
have  blue  cotton  headdresses. 

The  Karens,  another  large  tribe,  some'  of  whom  are  also 
found  in  lower  Burma,  are  more  like  the  Chinese,  although 
they  dress  like  the  Burmese.  They  are  tattooed,  and  many 
of  the  men  have  the  figure  of  the  rising  sun  pricked  in  with 
red  ink  on  the  small  of  their  backs.  Many  of  the  Karens 
have  been  converted  to  Christianity. 

Leaving  Bhamo,  we  sail  back  down  the  Irawadi  River  to 
Mandalay,  where  was  the  capital  of  the  country  before  the 
British  conquered  Burma  and  changed  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment to  Rangoon.  Mandalay  now  has  about  two  hundred 
thousand  inhabitants,  and  it  is  still  a  place  of  consider- 
able importance.  It  has  large  bazaars  and  hundreds  of 
pagodas,  in  one  of  which  is  a  bell  which  weighs  ninety 
tons. 

We  spend  some  time  shopping  in  the  city  and  in  mak- 
ing excursions  out  into  the  country  near  by.  We  do  not 
stay  long,  however.  We  have  discovered  that  Farther  India 
is  a  little  world  in  itself,  and  we  long  for  the  still  stranger 
things  we  are  to  find  in  Hindustan  or  East  India  proper. 
Therefore  we  return  to  Rangoon  where  we  find  a  ship 
about  to  go  to  Calcutta.  We  take  passage,  and  are  soon 
far  out  on  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  We  steam  for  several  days 
in  a  northwesterly  direction  and  awake  one  morning  to 
find  ourselves  in  the  muddy  waters  brought  down  by  the 
Ganges.  We  sail  through  these  into  the  Hugli  River, 
which  forms  one  of  the  mouths  of  the  Ganges,  and  after 
a  few  hours  come  to  anchor  under  the  spires  and  towers 
of  the  great  city  of  Calcutta. 


GENERAL  VIEW   OF  INDIA  233 


32.     GENERAL   VIEW   OF   INDIA 

THIS  morning  we  begin  our  travels  in  East  India 
proper.  We  are  in  the  great  peninsula  of  Hindu- 
stan, a  country  almost  half  as  large  as  the  United  States, 
and  quite  as  varied  in  its  scenery  and  character.  The 
land  is  enormous.  It  extends  from  the  southern  part  of 
the  Asiatic  Continent  in  the  shape  of  a  great  triangle, 
whose  base  is  the  Himalaya  Mountains,  and  whose  sharp 
apex  lies  within  a  few  degrees  of  the  Equator.  If  you 
could  lift  up  Hindustan,  and  lay  it  upon  North  America 
with  its  western  end  at  Seattle,  it  would  reach  as  far  east  as 
Montreal,  and  Cape  Comorin  which  tips  the  apex  would  be 
wedged  into  the  Panama  Canal.  From  north  to  south  it  is 
as  long  as  the  distance  from  the  middle  of  Hudson  Bay  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  from  east  to  west  it  extends  as  far 
as  the  distance  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  Great  Salt 
Lake. 

This  mighty  country  is  one  of  extremes.  The  Hima- 
layas which  border  it  on  the  north  are  the  highest 
mountains  on  earth.  Their  peaks  are  hidden  in  perpetual 
snow,  and  the  icy  wastes  on  the  top  of  Mount  Everest  kiss 
the  sky  at  an  altitude  more  than  two  miles  above  that  of 
any  part  of  North  America  except  Mount  McKinley. 

At  the  foot  of  the  mountains  begins  a  mighty  plain 
which  at  the  east  and  west  is  not  far  above  the  level  of 
the  sea,  while  still  farther  south  the  land  rises  into  the 
mountains  and  plateaus  of  the  Dekkan  which  reach  to 
Cape  Comorin.  India  is  thus  composed  of  mountains  and 
valleys,  of  rolHng  plateaus  and  a  great  lowland  plain. 

A  country  like  this  must  be  one  of  many  climates. 
The  mountains  embrace  the  temperate  and  frigid  zones, 


234  GENERAL   VIEW  OF   INDIA 

while  the  great  plain  below  is  a  land  of  the  tropics,  and  in 
summer  is  exceedingly  hot.  In  general  the  seasons  are 
three  —  the  hot,  the  rainy,  and  cool.  The  hot  season  lasts 
through  March  and  April,  during  which  time  the  heat  is 
terrific  and  no  rain  falls.  The  rains  begin  early  in  May, 
when  the  southwest  monsoon  rushes  in  from  the  Indian 
Ocean  ;  they  last  through  the  summer  and  even  into  Octo- 
ber. During  this  season  the  rains  pour  and  the  soil  is 
soaked  by  them.  Then  comes  the  cool  weather  which 
continues  throughout  the  winter,  or  from  November  to 
February,  inclusive.  In  this  season  it  is  not  cold  on  the 
plains,  but  much  Hke  our  moderate  weather  in  summer. 

The  rainfall  is  varied  according  to  the  locality.  India  is 
one  of  the  wettest  lands  upon  earth,  and  also  one  of  the 
driest.  In  some  provinces  the  water  pours  down  almost 
all  the  time,  and  in  others  it  does  not  rain  for  months 
in  succession.  Some  places  are  as  dry  as  the  Sahara,  and 
in  others  six  feet  of  water  has  been  known  to  fall  in  the 
space  of  twelve  months.  The  land  is  consequently  one 
of  well-watered  plains  and  great  deserts.  It  has  soils 
which  have  been  giving  rich  crops  ever  since  history 
began  to  be  written,  and  some  which  the  plow  of  man  has 
never  turned.  India  has  mighty  rivers,  such  as  the  Indus, 
the  Brahmaputra,  and  the  Ganges,  all  of  which  are  fed  by 
the  perpetual  snows  of  the  Himalayas.  These  rivers  bring 
down  vast  loads  of  silt  which  feed  and  enrich  the  soil  of 
India  as  Egypt  is  fed  and  made  rich  by  the  Nile.  We 
shall  see  how  the  water  is  used  for  irrigation  as  we  travel 
over  the  country. 

India  is  a  world  as  regards  its  vegetation.  It  has  trees 
and  plants  of  the  tropics,  temperate  and  frigid  zones. 
There  are  palms  in  the  lowlands ;  and  pines,  cedars,  and 
oaks  high  up  in  the  mountains.     The  country  grows  all 


GENERAL  VIEW   OF  INDIA  235 

sorts  of  crops,  from  wheat,  barley,  and  millet  to  rice, 
cotton,  and  sugar ;  and  it  has  animals  of  every  climate, 
from  the  elephants  and  tigers  which  roam  through  the 
jungles  to  the  wild  goats  and  mountain  sheep  of  the  Hima- 
layas on  the  borders  of  Tibet. 

India  is  also  a  world  in  respect  to  its  population.  It 
should  not  be  looked  upon  as  one  country  inhabited  by  a 
single  race  as  is  the  land  of  China.  It  is  more  like  a 
continent  of  many  races  and  many  peoples.  It  has  all 
together  more  than  three  hundred  million  inhabitants,  or 
almost  one  fifth  of  the  world's  population.  These  millions 
are  of  several  colors.  Some  are  as  black  as  the  Africans 
of  the  Kongo,  and  others  have  skins  as  fair  as  our  own. 

The  East  Indians  speak  one  hundred  and  eighty-five 
languages,  many  of  which  are  as  different  from  the  others 
as  are  the  English  and  Russian.  One  of  the  tongues 
is  spoken  by  ninety-seven  millions,  another  by  forty-four 
millions,  and  there  are  fourteen  other  languages  each  of 
which  is  used  by  more  than  three  millions. 

These  many  peoples  have  their  own  customs,  and  not  a 
few  of  them  their  own  religions.  Some  are  worshipers  of 
fire,  some  are  Buddhists,  and  a  vast  number  are  Mohamme- 
dans. MilHons  of  them  worship  spirits,  and  more  in 
number  than  all  the  others  are  the  Hindus,  who  have 
many  idols  representing  their  ideas  of  life  and  death  and 
futurity.  There  are  more  Hindus  in  India  than  there  are 
Christians  in  the  United  States,  and  more  Mohammedans 
than  in  Turkey. 

This  continent  of  different  races,  peoples,  and  languages 
is  divided  up  into  many  states,  each  of  which  has  its  own 
customs,  and  some  of  which  have  a  government  different 
from  the  others.  The  states  are  all  under  the  rule  of 
Great  Britain,  although  some  are  still  nominally  governed 


236  GENERAL  VIEW  OF  INDIA 

by  the  native  princes  or  rajahs,  with  British  advisers  to 
tell  them  just  how  to  rule. 

Is  it  not  strange  that  a  country  so  great  as  this  should 
be  controlled  by  the  people  of  a  little  island-kingdom  in 
the  North  Atlantic  Ocean  thousands  of  miles  away  ? 
Yes,  the  possession  and  administration  of  India  by  the 
English  is  a  wonder  of  modern  government,  and  as  we  go 
over  the  country  we  shall  see  that  it  has  been  and  is  of 
enormous  benefit  to  the  East  Indians. 

But  how  did  the  EngUsh  get  the  control  of  this  vast  terri- 
tory, inhabited  by  so  many  millions  and  lying  so  far  away 
from  their  own  home  .•*  The  story  is  an  interesting  one.  The 
work  began  in  the  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth  with  a  contest 
over  a  pinch  of  pepper.  At  that  time  the  Dutch  of  Hol- 
land controlled  the  most  of  the  East  Indian  trade.  They 
had  foreign  settlements  in  Hindustan,  and  one  of  the  chief 
articles  which  their  ships  carried  home  to  Europe  was  pep- 
per, which  then  sold  for  seventy-five  cents. a  pound.  This 
gave  a  large  profit  to  the  Dutch  merchants.  But  they 
were  not  satisfied,  and  they  doubled  the  price.  The  Eng- 
lish merchants  protested  that  this  was  too  much,  but  the 
Dutch  would  not  make  any  reduction.  Thereupon,  the 
EngHsh  merchants  formed  a  company  to  build  ships  of  their 
own  and  to  send  them  out  to  India  to  bring  pepper  and 
other  goods  to  England.  That  was  the  famous  East 
India  Company  which  gradually  drove  out  the  Dutch,  and 
took  possession  of  most  of  Hindustan.  It  was  from  that 
company  that  the  British  government  acquired  this  great 
peninsula. 

The  chief  rulers  of  the  country  are  now  appointed  by  the 
king  of  England,  who  has  also  the  title  of  the  Emperor  of 
India.  At  their  head  is  the  Governor-general,  or  Viceroy. 
The  word  "  viceroy  "  means  vice  king,  and  the  Governor- 


GENERAL   VIEW   OF   INDIA 


237 


general  stands  here  in  the  place  of  the  king.  He  there- 
fore has  great  power,  and  has  thousands  of  officials  to  help 
him.  He  controls  the  armies.  In  all  the  states  there 
are  British  and  native  soldiers,  and  among  them  many  who 
ride  upon  camels  and  elephants.  The  soldiers  are  of  a 
half-dozen  races  coming  from  such  of  the  nations  as  are 


"  —  who  ride  upon  camels  —  " 

noted  for  their  bravery  and  military  skill.  They  are  all 
under  British  officers,  although  many  subordinate  olaces  are 
held  by  East  Indians. 

The  British  h^^e  improved  India.  When  they  came 
here  Hindustan  was  inhabited  by  nations  which  were 
warring  upon  each  other.  The  taxes  were  enormous,  the 
princes  oppressed  their   subjects,  and    life  and   property 


238  GENERAL  VIEW   OF   INDIA 

were  very  unsafe.  The  farming  methods  were  bad,  and 
there  were  frequent  famines  which  killed  millions  of  people. 
There  were  no  public  roads  to  speak  of,  and  most  of  the 
natives  were  low  in  the  scale  of  civilization. 

To-day  we  find  good  order  everywhere  kept,  and  we  can 
travel  as  safely  through  Hindustan  as  in  any  part  of  the 
United  States.  There  are  good  wagon  roads  everywhere, 
and  railroads  traverse  the  most  thickly  populated  parts  of 
the  peninsula.  The  people  now  trade  with  one  another 
without  fear  of  robbery,  and  they  have  a  vast  commerce 
with  other  nations.  At  the  time  the  EngHsh  took  con- 
trol of  the  country,  its  foreign  trade  was  not  more  than 
five  million  dollars  a  year.  It  now  annually  amounts  to 
over  five  hundred  million  dollars,  and  it  grows  more  and 
more  as  time  goes  on.  The  extortions  of  the  past  have 
been  done  away  with,  and  the  people  now  pay  less  taxes 
than  those  of  any  other  great  land.  They  pay  only  about 
one  thirteenth  as  much  per  head  as  we  do,  and  twenty 
times  less  than  the  people  of  either  France  or  England. 

The  EngHsh  have  given  the  East  Indians  a  good  postal 
and  telegraph  system.  We  shall  be  able  to  mail  letters  in 
the  smallest  villages,  and  as  we  go  over  the  country 
shall  meet  postmen  going  about  upon  bicycles  delivering 
the  mails.  We  can  send  telegrams  at  low  rates  to  any  part 
of  India,  and  it  will  not  cost  very  much  for  us  to  cable  to 
England,  or  even  to  New  York. 

As  we  look  at  the  telegraph  poles,  we  observe  that  they 
are  made  of  iron.  It  seems  to  us  that  wood  would  be 
cheaper,  and  we  ask  why  this  is.  It  is  because  of  the 
white  ant,  which  eats  up  anything  wooden.  This  ant  is  found 
in  many  parts  of  Hindustan,  and  a  drove  of  them  would 
chew  up  several  telegraph  poles  like  those  we  have  in 
America  in  one  night. 


GENERAL  VIEW  OF  INDIA  239 

But  suppose  we  take  a  few  excursions  over  the  country. 
How  shall  we  travel  ?  We  could  use  camels  or  elephants, 
for  there  are  many  in  Hindustan ;  or  we  might  go  on  the 
rivers,  as  we  did  in  some  of  our  journeys  through  China. 
Any  of  these  ways  would  be  pleasant  for  a  short  time,  but  in 
the  study  of  a  country  so  large  we  shall  need  the  most  rapid 
transportation  we  can  possibly  get.  We  shall  therefore  go 
by  the  railroad  or  upon  motor  cars.  There  are  many  thou- 
sand miles  of  railroads  in  India.  The  country  has  more 
than  any  other  in  Asia,  and  its  railroad  mileage  is  sur- 
passed by  only  four  other  countries  of  the  whole  world. 
Its  roads  are  well  built  and  well  managed,  and  they  carry 
several  hundred  million  passengers  each  year.  The  cars 
are  much  like  our  own,  except  that  in  most  of  them  the 
seats  are  long  benches  running  lengthwise  instead  of  across 
the  car  on  each  side  a  central  aisle,  as  with  us.  Other 
cars  have  compartments.  On  the  express  trains  some 
have  electric  fans,  electric  lights,  and  bells.  At  one  end  of 
each  car  is  a  bathroom  with  a  tub  sunk  in  the  floor,  so 
that  we  can  have  a  wash  as  we  go  flying  over  the  country 
at  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles  an  hour. 

Can  we  travel  at  night  ?  Yes,  there  are  some  sleeping 
cars ;  but  upon  many  trains  we  shall  have  to  carry  our  bed- 
ding. In  such  cases  we  must  make  a  rush  for  the  best 
places  on  entering  the  train.  The  man  who  first  gets  his 
bedding  down  on  a  bench  has  the  right  to  it,  and  if  we 
come  in  too  late,  we  may  be  crowded  to  the  ends  of  the 
benches  and  have  to  sleep  as  we  can. 

The  cars  are  of  three  classes — first,  second,  and  third. 
Those  of  the  first  and  second  classes  are  used  chiefly  by  for- 
eigners or  well-to-do  natives.  The  third  class  is  reserved 
for  the  common  people,  who  are  packed  in  so  tightly  that 
it  is  almost  impossible  for  them  to  move.     They  pay  less 


240  THE   WILD   ANIMALS  OF  INDIA 

than  half  a  cent  per  mile,  and  the  first-class  fares  are 
cheaper  than  ours.  The  conductors  are  usually  natives. 
They  are  tall,  dark-faced  men  wearing  turbans  and  uni- 
forms.   They  speak  English  and  are  polite  to  all  foreigners. 

We  are  amused  at  the  queer  things  we  see  on  the  freight 
cars.  Here  is  one  loaded  with  camels,  and  there  is  another 
in  which  a  baby  elephant  is  shut  off  in  a  pen  from  the  rest 
of  the  freight.  The  brakeman  tells  us  that  elephant  calves 
are  charged  for  at  the  rate  of  six  cents  a  mile,  and  we  won- 
der what  may  be  the  rate  for  a  camel  or  a  donkey. 

In  the  baggage  cars  are  compartments  or  boxes  for  cats, 
monkeys,  rabbits,  guinea  pigs,  and  dogs.  All  these  ani- 
mals are  classed  as  dogs  and  paid  for  at  the  dog  rate,  no 
one  being  allowed  to  carry  anything  of  the  dog  class  into 
the  passenger  cars.  Not  long  ago  a  woman  appeared  at 
the  depot  with  a  turtle  in  her  hand.  She  was  about  to 
take  the  train  when  the  Hindu  conductor  stopped  her. 
She  asked  him  why  she  could  not  take  her  pet  into  the 
car.  He  thought  for  a  time,  and  then  replied  in  his  un- 
grammatical  English :  — 

"  Yes,  Missy  can  take.  Cats  is  dogs,  and  monkeys  is 
dogs ;  but  turtles  is  fish,  and  there  is  no  rule  against  fish." 


33.     THE   WILD   ANIMALS   OF   INDIA 

ONE  would  not  think  a  country  so  thickly  populated 
could  have  many  wild  animals.  The  peninsula  of 
Hindustan,  however,  has  large  tracts  upon  which  little 
grows.  It  has  forests  of  teak  and  other  trees,  the  home 
of  the  elephant,  and  vast  jungles  in  which  roam  tigers, 
panthers,   and    leopards.     The   jungles   are   composed  of 


THE   WILD  ANIMALS   OF  INDIA  24 1 

thickets  of  bamboo,  creeping  vines,  and  the  dense  brush 
found  in  tropical  climates.  They  cover  the  lower  slopes 
of  the  Himalaya  Mountains,  and  are  to  be  found  also  here 
and  there  upon  and  near  the  high  plateaus  Of  southern 
and  central  India. 

From  these  wilds  the  tigers  dash  out  into  the  farming 
districts,  and  attack  men,  women,  and  children.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  one  thousand  persons  are  annually  killed  by 
them.  The  panthers  and  leopards,  and  the  tigers  as  well, 
kill  many  cattle  and  sheep.  In  a  single  year  more  than 
sixty  thousand  cattle  have  been  destroyed  by  wild  beasts. 
India  has  also  poisonous  snakes  which  in  some  years  kill 
as  many  as  twenty  thousand  human  beings,  so  you  see  the 
country  is  by  no  means  so  safe  as  one  might  think,  consid- 
ering its  great  population. 

The  wild  animals  are  of  many  curious  kinds.  There  are 
monkeys,  large  and  small,  and  leopards  which  have  been 
tamed  and  trained  to  hunt  other  beasts.  There  are  croco- 
diles in  the  rivers  and  rhinoceroses  in  the  swamps.  The 
rhinoceros  of  the  Brahmaputra  Valley  often  grows  to  be 
five  or  six  feet  in  height,  and  the  great  horn  on  its  nose 
sometimes  attains  the  length  of  a  foot. 

And  then  there  are  the  wild  elephants  which  are  still  to 
be  found  along  the  base  of  the  Himalayas  and  in  the  hilly 
country  not  far  from  Cape  Comorin.  They  live  in  herds, 
feeding  on  grass,  bamboos,  wild  bananas,  and  the  leaves 
and  bark  of  certain  trees.  It  is  against  the  law  to  shoot 
elephants,  and  whosoever  captures  or  injures  one  with- 
out the  permission  of  the  government  is  fined,  and  he  may 
be  cast  into  prison.  The  huge  beasts  are  caught  by  driv- 
mg  them  into  stockades,  or  by  running  them  down  with 
tame  elephants  ridden  by  men.  Often  a  herd  is  driven 
into  a  stockade,   and  the   hunters   go  in  to  catch  them. 


242 


THE  WILD  ANIMALS   OF  INDIA 


This  work  is  dangerous ;  for  if  an  angry  elephant  can  get 
at  the  man,  it  will  jump  upon  him,  and  kick  him  backwards 
and  forwards  between  its  fore  and  hind  feet.  It  may  kneel 
upon  him,  or,  by  means  of  its  trunk  and  feet,  tear  his  body 
from  limb  to  limb. 

India  has  many  deer  and  antelope,   although  the  vast 
antelope  herds  of  the  past,  which  sometimes  numbered  ten 


Rhinoceros. 


thousand  or  more,  have  now  disappeared.  It  has  the  musk 
deer,  which  secretes  the  musk  fat  from  which  comes  the 
perfumery  of  that  name,  and  also  many  wild  cats  and  dogs. 
In  Assam,  on  the  edge  of  the  Himalayas,  are  wild  dogs 
which  hunt  in  packs,  twenty-five  or  thirty  of  them  going 
together.  When  once  on  the  track  of  an  animal,  no  mat- 
ter whether  it  be  a  deer  or  a  tiger,  these  dogs  will  follow  it 
for  days  and  attack  it  when  it  is  brought  to  bay. 


THE   WILD  ANIMALS   OF  INDIA  243 

I  wish  we  could  take  specimens  of  the  Indian  rat  family 
home  to  show  to  our  friends.  There  are  more  than  one 
hundred  species,  some  of  which  are  as  small  as  the  tiniest 
mouse  and  others  as  large  as  a  cat.  The  bandicoot,  for  in- 
stance, weighs  two  or  three  pounds,  and  often  measures  fif- 
teen inches,  not  counting  its  tail,  which  is  nearly  as  long. 

There  is  another  animal  which  we  can  find  in  almost  any 
part  of  Hindustan.  This  is  the  jackal,  which  looks  like  a 
very  large  fox.  It  has  a  jaw  so  strong  that  it  can  crush  bones 
with  its  teeth,  and  its  yell  is  Hke  the  scream  of  a  baby.  It  is 
a  sneaking,  cowardly  beast.  It  will  put  its  tail  between  its 
legs  and  run  at  the  sight  of  a  man,  although  it  may  attack 
a  child.  The  jackal  is  the  common  scavenger  of  the  towns 
and  villages ;  it  feeds  upon  dead  meat  of  all  kinds,  and 
often  fights  with  the  vultures  over  a  carcass. 

The  cat  family  is  well  represented  in  India,  and  espe- 
cially the  larger  cats,  such  as  lions  and  tigers.  There  are 
more  tigers  than  Hons.  I  once  saw  ten  big  Bengal  tigers 
in  the  zoological  garden  at  Calcutta,  one  of  which  measured 
twelve  feet  from  the  tip  of  his  nose  to  the  end  of  his  tail. 
He  was  fresh  from  the  jungle  and  consequently  very  fierce. 
As  I  watched  him,  the  keeper  put  some  meat  inside  the  door 
of  the  cage  and  then  went  away.  The  great  beast  pounced 
upon  the  meat;  when,  to  see  what  he  would  do,  I  poked  my' 
umbrella  in  through  the  cage.  Thereupon  he  raised  his' 
head  and  sprang  at  me  with  a  roar,  but  was  thrown  back  by 
the  bars.  My  heart  sank,  and  I  jumped  back,  whereupon 
the  keeper  came  up  and  warned  me  that  the  tiger  was  a 
maneater,  having  already  killed  one  hundred  people. 

Most  tigers,  however,  are  not  man-eaters.  They  live  upon 
deer,  antelope,  and  wild  hogs,  and  kill  also  cattle,  horses, 
and  camels.  It  is  only  when  very  hungry  that  they  will 
attack  men ;  but,  it  is  said  that  having  once  tasted  human 


244  THE  WILD   ANIMALS  OF   INDIA 

flesh,  they  prefer  it  to  all  other  food.  A  single  tiger. is 
known  to  have  killed  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  human 
beings.  This  tiger  prowled  along  one  of  the  chief  public 
roads,  stopping  all  traffic  until  an  English  sportsman  fired 
the  shot  through  his  neck  which  caused  his  death. 

The  tiger  usually  does  his  hunting  at  night.  He  makes 
his  lair  in  a  jungle  near  a  village  or  a  corral  where  the  cat- 
tle are  kept.  After  dark,  he  creeps  out  until  within  a  few 
feet  of  his  victirn,  and  then  with  a  spring  seizes  it  by  the 
throat,  often  dislocating  the  neck.  In  the  case  of  human 
beings,  an  old  man-eater  will  sometimes  grab  a  person  by 
the  shoulders  with  his  teeth,  swing  the  body  about  over  his 
back,  and  trot  off  into  the  jungle  to  devour  his  living  victim 
at  leisure. 

This  animal  is  wonderfully  strong.  The  tiger  can  strike 
down  a  cow  with  a  blow  of  his  paw,  and  drag  her  off  with 
his  teeth.  His  claws  are  as  white  as  ivory,  and  as  hard 
almost  as  steel.  They  can  be  covered  at  will,  like  those 
of  a  cat,  and  are  drawn  in  while  walking  that  they  may 
not  be  worn  off  by  rubbing  the  ground. 

Tigers  are  not  brave,  and  they  will  usually  run  from  a 
man  rather  than  face  him ;  but  when  brought  to  bay,  they 
will  light  until  dead.  They  will  even  spring  upon  the 
backs  of  elephants  in  their  attempts  to  get  at  the  hunters 
who  are  riding  them.  The  men  often  build  platforms 
in  the  trees  through  which  the  beasts  come  to  get  food  or 
drink.  They  then  climb  up  and  lie  in  wait  to  shoot  the 
tigers  as  they  slip  by.  A  young  buffalo  or  calf  is  often 
tied  at  the  foot  of  such  a  tree.  The  tiger  pounces  upon  the 
animal  and  is  sucking  its  blood  when  the  hunter  above 
takes  aim  and  kills  him. 

Have  you  ever  heard  of  the  cobra  ?  It  is  one  of  many 
poisonous  snakes  and  about  the  most  venomous  known  to 


THE   WILD   ANIMALS   OF  INDIA 


245 


man.  It  is  found  all  over  India,  and  it  causes  many  deaths 
every  year.  The  cobra  is  not  large,  seldom  growing  to  a 
length  of  more  than  four  feet,  although  some  are  known  to 
have  been  five  or  six  feet  long  and  six  inches  thick.  This 
snake  has  a  small  head  which  it  expands  in  the  shape  of  a 
hood  when  it  grows  angry.  It  rises  on  its  tail  as  it  strikes, 
and  it  cannot  strike  to  a  distance  greater  than  its  own 


Tiger. 

length.  Cobras  sometimes  crawl  inside  the  houses.  Not 
long  ago  an  EngHsh  lady  was  writing  at  her  desk  in  her 
Indian  home,  when  suddenly  she  felt  as  though  somebody 
was  looking  at  her  from  behind.  She  turned  around  again 
and  again,  but  there  was  nothing  in  sight.  Then  at  last, 
on  the  floor,  she  saw  a  cobra  raising  its  hood-shaped  head 
and  about  to  spring  at  her.  She  jumped  upon  the  table, 
and  screamed  for  the  servants,  who  rushed  in,  and  the 
snake  was  killed. 

CARP.  ASIA —  15 


246 


THE  WILD  ANIMALS  OF  INDIA 


We  shall  meet  Hindu  snake  charmers  in  all  of  the  cities. 
They  are  among  the  most  skillful' jugglers  to  be  found  any- 
where, and  they  handle  snakes  as  though  they  were  so 
many  pieces  of  rope.  Each  juggler  is  naked  except  for  a 
white  turban  and  a  strip  of  dirty  white  cotton,  wound 
around  his  waist.  He  has  so  little  clothes  that  it  would 
seem  impossible  for  him  to  conceal  anything  in  them,  but 


Snake  Charmers. 


nevertheless  he  brings  forth  from  space,  as  it  were,  great 
bunches  of  snakes. 

I  remember  a  snake  charmer  I  once  met  at  Delhi,  who 
was  clad  as  I  have  described.  He  asked  me  to  hold  out 
my  hand,  and  laid  a  piece  of  brown  paper  upon  it.  He 
then  took  up  a  flute  and  began  to  play,  fixing  his  eyes  on 
the  paper  as  though  he  saw  something  there.  He  danced 
around  me  for  some  time,  playing  all  the  while,  and  keep- 
ing his  weird  black  eyes  upon  my  hand.     He  then  started 


THE  CITIES  OF  INDIA  247 

back  and  pointed  at  the  paper.  My  eyes  followed  his,  but 
I  could  see  nothing.  He  repeated  this  action,  dancing 
about  more  wildly  than  ever.  At  last  he  dropped  the 
flute,  and  commenced  to  sing,  continuing  his  dance,  and 
pointing  again  and  again  at  my  hand. 

All  at  once,  while  I  was  still  looking,  he  thrust  out  his 
naked  arm,  clapped  his  bare  hand  down  upon  the  paper, 
and  snatched  out  of  my  very  hand  three  great  cobras. 
He  shook  them,  and  they  squirmed  and  wriggled  before 
my  frightened  eyes.  As  he  did  so,  the  cobras  raised 
their  hooded  heads  and  darted  out  their  fangs  at  me. 
I  jumped  back,  for  they  were  within  only  a  few  inches  of 
my  nose.  I  could  not  tell  then,  and  I  do  not  know  now, 
where  the  snakes  came  from.  I  saw  the  trick  performed 
again  and  again,  but  I  could  never  discover  how  it  was 
done. 

34.   THE  CITIES  OF  INDIA 

TO-DAY  we  are  to  see  something  of  the  cities  of  India. 
There  are  many  large  ones,  and  some  of  them  are  com- 
mercial and  manufacturing  centers.  Calcutta,  Madras,  and 
Bombay  are  all  great  seaports,  at  which  hundreds  of  steamers 
call  every  year;  and  Haiderabad  (hi-dar-a-bad'),  Luck- 
now,  Benares  (ben-a'rez),  Allahabad  (al-a-ha-bad'),  Delhi 
(del'e),  and  Lahore  (la-hor')  are  amongst  the  important  trad- 
ing places  of  the  interior,  where  vast  numbers  of  workmen 
are  making  things  for  the  markets  at  home  and  abroad. 

The  Indians  are  a  most  industrious  people,  being  always 
busy  in  farming  or  in  manufacturing  of  one  kind  or  other. 
They  live  in  settlements,  large  and  small,  scattered  over 
the  country.     The  homes  of  the  farmers  are  in  villages, 


248  THE  CITIES  OF  INDIA 

and  not  on  the  lands  they  cultivate,  as  with  us.  There  are 
more  than  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  such  villages 
in  India;  and  more  than  two  thousand  towns,  in  addition  to 
a  great  many  cities,  each  of  which  has  fifty  thousand 
people  or  more.  Calcutta  is  as  big  as  Philadelphia,  Bombay 
is  bigger  than  Boston,  and  Madras  exceeds  Cleveland  in 
size. 

We  shall  begin  our  explorations  with  Calcutta.  It  was 
formerly  the  capital  of  the  Indian  Empire,  although  it  has 
been  decided  to  move  the  seat  of  government  to  Delhi  in 
the  interior.  The  Viceroy  had  his  headquarters  at  Calcutta 
for  most  of  the  year,  and  there  also  Hved  the  officials  of 
the  departments  through  which  the  country  is  governed. 

Calcutta  lies  on  the  Hugh  River,  which  forms  one  of  the 
mouths  of  the  Ganges,  being  situated  on  the  east  bank 
about  eighty  miles  west  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  In  coming 
in  from  the  bay  we  sail  up  the  river  through  jungles  so  low 
and  unhealthy  that  they  are  given  over  to  the  tigers  and 
other  wild  beasts  which  roam  there  at  will.  A  few  miles 
farther  up  the  stream  the  land  rises,  and  we  now  and  then 
pass  a  mud  village  with  palm  trees  waving  above  it.  As 
we  proceed  the  population  grows  denser,  and  we  soon  come 
into  a  region  of  mighty  jute  mills,  where  bagging  and  other 
coarse  cloths  are  manufactured  for  export  to  the  United 
States  and  Europe. 

Farther  on  we  pass  vessels  heavily  loaded  coming  in 
and  going  out,  and  learn  that  the  trade  of  Calcutta  an- 
nually amounts  to  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  and  that 
it  has  a  great  part  of  the  foreign  commerce  of  India,  which 
is  more  than  a  billion  dollars  per  annum  and  is  increasing 
each  year.  The  Hugli  is  filled  with  shipping,  and  it  is  in 
the  midst  of  great  steamers  that  we  come  to  anchor  in  the 
heart  of  the  city. 


THE   CITIES   OF  INDIA  249 

There  are  buildings  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  and  on 
the  east  bank,  where  we  land,  they  extend  for  miles  up 
and  down  the  stream  and  far  back  into  the  country.  We 
drive  through  a  wide  street  and  across  a  great  park  to  one 
of  the  leading  hotels.  It  faces  a  public  garden  and  is  on  the 
Chowringe  Road,  which  is  lined  with  mansions  and  other 
fine  buildings. 

This  famous  city  is  sometimes  called  the  city  of  palaces. 
It  has  many  magnificent  structures,  the  homes  of  British 
officials  and  wealthy  East  Indians.  It  has  fine  public  build- 
ings, such  as  the  Post  Office,  the  Town  Hall,  and  the  High 
Courts.  The  palace  formerly  occupied  by  the  Governor- 
general  is  much  like  the  White  House  at  Washington, 
except  that  it  is  larger  and  grander.  It  is  situated  at  the 
end  of  a  wide  park  known  as  the  Maidan  (ml-dan'),  which 
is  several  miles  long.  It  contains  a  race  track  and  grounds 
for  tennis,  cricket,  and  golf. 

At  the  upper  end  of  the  Maidan  is  a  zoological  garden, 
where  one  may  see  tigers  which  have  been  recently  brought 
in  from  the  jungle.  They  are  still  wild,  and  dash  them- 
selves against  the  bars  of  their  cages  as  we  come  near. 

Here,  also,  are  the  botanical  gardens,  where  stands  the 
great  banyan  tree  so  famous  throughout  the  world.  The 
limbs  of  the  banyan  send  down  roots  which  penetrate 
the  earth  and  grow  into  firm  trunks  or  living  pillars, 
supporting  the  limbs  from  which  they  come.  The  main 
trunk  of  this  great  banyan  has  a  circumference  of  fifty 
feet,  and  its  branches  extend  far  out  on  all  sides.  From 
each  large  branch  the  roots  have  gone  down  into  the 
ground,  so  that  it  has  all  together  five  hundred  and  sixty- 
two  columns  supporting  it.  As  we  look  at  it,  it  seems  to 
be  a  mighty  tent  of  green,  the  leaves  uniting  and  forming 
a  canopy  covering  more  than  an  acre. 


2  so  THE  CITIES  OF  INDIA 

When  we  lie  down  on  the  ground,  the  supports  seem  to 
be  a  forest  of  tree  trunks  of  various  sizes,  and  as  we  raise 
our  eyes  we  see  that  each  is  joined  to  a  hmb  which  runs 
out  from  the  trunk  almost  horizontally  overhead.  Some 
of  the  roots  are  short.  They  support  the  lower  limbs. 
Others  are  twenty  or  thirty  feet  long  and  are  joined  to  a 
branch  higher  up.  Some  are  as  thick  as  a  man's  leg, 
others  not  so  thick  as  one's  finger.  Some  are  as  fine  as 
a  hair,  and  sway  to  and  fro  in  the  breeze ;  they  are  grow- 
ing downward  but  have  not  yet  caught  the  earth.  Banyan 
trees  are  among  the  peculiarities  of  this  part  of  the  world. 
We  shall  find  them  here  and  there  as  we  go  over  India, 
although  none  is  so  big  as  this  great  tree  at  Calcutta. 

Driving  back  through  the  Maidan  we  visit  Fort  William, 
a  large  stone-walled  inclosure  which  forms  the  headquarters 
of  the  army.  It  has  many  native  soldiers,  whom  we  watch 
as  they  go  through  their  drill.  We  then  ride  on  into  the 
oflficial  and  business  quarters.  Here  the  buildings  are 
large,  and  the  stores  are  fine.  We  stop  at  the  Post  Office 
facing  a  beautiful  lake  on  Dalhousie  Square,  and  on  its 
walls  read  an  inscription  which  states  that  the  marble 
pavement  below  marks  the  site  of  the  Black  Hole.  This 
was  a  horrible  prison  into  which,  on  the  night  of  the  20th 
of  June,  1756,  at  the  command  of  the  Nawab  (na-w6b'), 
who  then  ruled  here,  one  hundred  and  forty-six  British 
inhabitants  of  Calcutta  were  cast,  and  only  twenty-three 
came  out  alive.  That  act  created  great  indignation  in 
England,  and  an  army  was  sent  out  to  punish  the  Nawab, 
thus  beginning  the  foundation  of  the  British  Empire  of 
India. 

Leaving  the  business  section,  we  go  on  to  the  river  to 
watch  the  people  bathing  in  the  waters  of  the  Hugh,  which, 
as  they  come  from  the  Ganges,  are  considered  holy  and 


THE  CITIES  OF  INDIA  2$  I 

able  to  wash  away  sin.  We  visit  some  of  the  temples,  and 
especially  that  of  the  terrible  goddess  Kali  after  whom 
Calcutta  is  named.  This  temple  is  three  hundred  years 
old,  and  the  idol  within  it,  which  represents  Kali,  has  a 
necklace  of  skulls,  and  about  its  waist  is  a  girdle  of  dead 
men's  hands.  The  people  are  offering  sacrifices  to  Kali. 
They  bring  in  kids  and  goats,  which  they  kill  in  the  court, 
sprinkling  the  blood  on  her  altar. 

As  we  move  about  through  Calcutta,  we  meet  types  of 
some  of  the  many  tribes  of  India.  The  people  are  of 
all  colors,  and  each  has  a  strange  costume.  There  are 
men  from  the  Himalayas  with  faces  as  fair  as  our  own, 
men  from  the  northwest  who  are  brown  or  yellow,  and 
some'  from  the  great  central  and  eastern  plains  whose 
skins  are  as  black  as  a  negro's,  although  they  have  fea- 
tures like  ours.  There  are  Brahmins  or  priests  who  go 
about  with  their  heads  shaved,  except  for  a  tuft  on  the 
crown;  they  wear  only  a  sheet  wrapped  around  their 
half-naked  bodies.  There  are  Mohammedans,  black  and 
yellow,  wearing  turbans  and  gowns ;  Klings  the  color  of 
ebony,  clad  all  in  white  ;  and  cream-colored  Parsees.  The 
latter  have  brimless  hats  which  look  like  inverted  coal 
scuttles,  and  frock  coats  buttoned  up  to  the  neck,  with 
skin-tight  trousers  below.  We  see  scores  of  half-naked 
black  and  brown  babies  at  play  in  the  streets,  and  turbaned 
men  dressed  in  white  go  by  on  the  trot,  carrying  burdens.' 

The  vehicles  are  of  every  description.  There  are  car- 
riages drawn  by  magnificent  horses,  each  with  its  coach- 
man and  footman  riding  on  the  box  and  with  two  servants 
on  the  step,  standing  behind.  There  are  gharries,  or  box- 
shaped  East  Indian  cabs,  pulled  by  lean  horses  and  driven 
by  men  wearing  liveries  of  gay  gowns  and  bright-colored 
turbans.      There  are  carts,  drawn  by  cattle  with  humps 


252 


THE  CITIES   OF  INDIA 


on  their  backs,  and  now  and  then  we  see  a  sulky-like  car- 
riage to  which  is  harnessed  a  bullock  wearing  a  bright- 
colored  blanket. 

Among  the  strange  sights  are  the  sleek,  fat  bulls  which 
roam  through  the  streets.  The  people  consider  cows  and 
bulls  holy,  and  allow  them  to  go  where  they  please.  We 
see  them  walking  upon  the  sidewalks,  and  even  eating  at 
the  vegetable  stalls  in  the  markets. 

Next  to  Calcutta,  the  largest  city  of  India  is  Bombay  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  peninsula.  Let  us  suppose  our- 
selves there.  We 
are  in  a  beautiful  city 
of  over  a  million, 
built  upon  a  cluster 
of  islands  about  a 
magnificent  harbor. 
Outside  the  town  are 
great  cotton  mills, 
and  within  are  large 
foreign  stores  and 
hotels,  fine  schools, 
and  an  immense  rail- 
road station.  There  is  also  a  native  section  of  shops  and 
bazaars  and  suburbs  where  all  sorts  of  manufacturing  goes 
on.  There  are  many  ships  in  the  harbor,  and  an  extensive 
trade  is  carried  on  with  Europe,  Africa,  and  also  with 
Persia  and  other  countries  in  Asia. 

At  one  side  of  Bombay  in  a  park  upon  a  hill  looking  out 
over  the  sea  are  five  white  towers  about  which  vultures 
are  flying  and  to  which  we  see  a  procession  of  men  march- 
ing, carrying  a  long  white  bundle  which  rests  on  their 
shoulders.  Those  are  the  famed  Towers  of  Silence  where 
the  Parsees  lay  out  their  dead.     The  bundle  the  men  are 


Sacred  Cattle. 


THE  CITIES  OF  INDIA 


253 


carrying  is  the  body  of  a  human  being  who  has  just  died. 
The  body  will  be  stripped  and  laid  naked  on  the  top  of  the 
Towers,  and  the  vultures  will  eat  the  flesh  and  pick  the 
bones  dry. 

The  Parsees  are  fire  worshipers,  and  this  disposal  of  the 
dead  is  a  custom  of  their  religion.  They  are  a  remarkable 
people.     There  are  only  about  one  hundred  thousand  of 


i^-'^#-7~P| 

E 

1 

mm 

r  ■'''^'wm 

■P" 

Parsee  Boys. 

them  in  the  world  ;  but  they  are  noted  for  their  intelligence, 
integrity,  and  business  ability.  They  have  banks  in  all  the 
great  cities  of  India ;  and  are  to  be  found  in  the  chief 
business  centers  of  southern  and  eastern  Asia.  There  are 
more  of  them  at  Bombay  than  anywhere  else. 

The  Parsees  came  to  India  from  Persia  generations  ago, 
and  they  still  have  the  religion  of  the  old  Persians,  which 
was  founded  by  a  man  named  Zoroaster.  They  consider 
the  sun  the  highest  visible  type  of  the  Creator,  and  worship 


254  THE   CITIES   OF  INDIA 

fire  as  one  of  its  emblems.  They  believe  in  one  God,  who 
they  say  has  created  for  every  person  two  spirits  who  are 
always  engaged  fighting  for  the  soul  they  have  been  ap- 
pointed to  guard.  One  of  the  spirits  is  good  and  the  other 
evil,  and  according  as  the  man  favors  the  good  or  the 
bad,  he  will  ascend  to  heaven  or  descend  to  hell.  The 
Parsees  keep  fires  burning  in  their  temples,  and  they  have 
one  at  Bombay  which  is  said  never  to  have  gone  out  dur- 
ing hundreds  of  years. 

Madras,  the  third  city  of  India  in  size,  is  situated  on  the 
west  coast  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal  and  about  one  thousand 
miles  from  Calcutta.  It  is  a  commercial,  manufacturing, 
and  educational  center,  being  the  chief  seaport  of  southern 
Hindustan.  It  has  a  harbor  protected  by  breakwaters, 
but  the  sea  is  usually  so  rough  that  great  steamers  pitch 
about  when  close  to  the  wharves,  and  it  takes  some  skill 
to  land. 

We  go  from  Bombay  by  rail  to  Madras,  and  later  take 
the  train  to  another  great  city  which  is  ruled  by  the 
most  powerful  of  the  Indian  princes.  This  is  Haidarabad, 
the  capital  of  the  Nizam,  who  governs  a  country  as  large 
as  Kansas  and  inhabited  by  over  eleven  million  people, 
Haidarabad  alone  having  over  five  hundred  thousand. 
The  city  stands  in  the  midst  of  a  wild,  rocky  country.  It 
has  a  huge  wall  about  it  which  is  six  miles  in  circumfer- 
ence, and  this  is  entered  by  thirteen  wide  gates.  The 
people  here  are  from  all  parts  of  India,  and  among  those 
we  see  on  the  streets  are  Turks,  Persians,  Arabs,  and 
Moors.  The  Nizam  is  a  Mohammedan,  and  many  Moham- 
medans come  to  his  country  to  trade. 

During  our  stay  we  visit  the  palaces.  They  cover  many 
acres,  and  house  all  together  about  seven  thousand  officials 
and  others.     Their  courtyards  are  full  of  armed  retainers. 


THE  VILLAGES  OF  INDIA  255 

horsemen,  and  servants  of  various  kinds.  The  Nizam  rules 
in  great  state.  His  men  wear  gorgeous  Uveries,  and  when 
he  rides  out  it  is  often  upon  elephants,  and  with  all  the 
splendor  that  the  princes  of  India  displayed  in  the  past. 
He  uses  also  the  automobile  and  motor  car  of  the  present, 
and  has  his  private  car  upon  the  railroads.  The  Nizam 
governs  his  country  under  the  direction  of  the  English, 
although  he  has  more  power  than  some  of  the  other  Indian 
princes  whom  we  may  meet  farther  on. 


>>»«€ 


35.   THE   VILLAGES    OF    INDIA.      HOME    LIFE 

TO-DAY  we  shall  see  something  of  the  East  Indians 
outside  the  cities.  Most  of  the  people  live  in  vil- 
lages, from  which  the  farmers  go  out  daily  to  their 
work  in  the  fields.  Each  village  has  also  its  trades- 
men and  mechanics,  including  a  carpenter,  shoemaker, 
barber,  and  blacksmith.  It  has  its  priest  and  school- 
teacher, and  is  governed  by  a  headman  aided  by  a  clerk 
and  the  village  council.  The  lands  outside  the  village 
belong  either  to  the  people  themselves  or  to  landlords 
who  may  live  in  other  parts  of  the  country  and  to  whom 
the  farmers  pay  a  money  rent  or  a  part  of  the  crop. 

But  let  us  suppose  ourselves  traveling  across  the  great 
plain  of  north  India.  We  are  riding  on  the  railroad 
through  the  valley  of  the  Ganges  over  some  of  the  richest 
soil  of  the  world.  The  sun  shines  brightly,  the  crops  grow 
luxuriantly,  and  birds  by  the  thousands  sing  in  the  trees. 
All  nature  is  joyful,  and  Mother  Earth  seems  abounding  in 
riches.     The  only  poor  thing  we  can  see  is  man. 

There  are  few  lands  upon  earth  where  the  people  strug- 


256 


THE   VILLAGES   OF   INDIA 


gle  SO  hard  and  get  so  little  as  in  India.  There  are  some 
parts  of  this  valley  which  support  two  persons  to  the  acre, 
and  where  three  hundred  and  twenty  get  their  living  out  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  which  is  the  size  of  many  an 
American  farm.  In  some  places  the  population  is  so  great 
that  it  averages  more  than  twelve  hundred  to  the  square 

^_     mile,  so  great  that  the  land 

does  not  produce  enough  for 
the  people.  In  many  parts 
of  Hindustan  the  peasants 
eat  only  just  about  enough 
to  keep  them  alive,  and  mil- 
lions support  their  families 
on  less  than  a  dollar  a  week. 
We  see  women  who  are  work- 
ing in  the  fields  for  less  than 
five  cents  a  day. 

In  other  regions  the  peo- 
ple are  fewer.  Some  sec- 
tions of  the  peninsula  are  less 
thickly  settled  than  our  East- 
ern states,  and  in  some  the 
land  is  a  desert  where  there 
are  no  people  at  all,  or  only 
nomadic  tribes  who  drive  their 
cattle  and  sheep  from  place  to  place  to  find  pasture. 

Let  us  now  take  a  look  at  the  farmers  as  they  work  in  the 
fields.  We  find  them  everywhere  toiling.  The  men  are 
plowing  and  digging,  and  the  women  and  children  are  hoe- 
ing and  weeding  the  crops.  All  wear  scanty  clothing,  and 
their  black  skins  shine  like  oiled  ebony  under  this  hot  Indian 
sun.  The  men  are  clad  in  little  more  than  a  strip  of  white 
cotton  which  they  wrap  around  their  bodies,  pulling  the  end 


Peasant  Woman  and  Children. 


THE   VILLAGES  OF   INDIA  257 

through  their  legs  and  fastening  it  in  at  the  waist.  They 
have  turbans  of  white  on  their  heads.  A  few  of  the  richer 
men  may  have  a  jacket  of  cotton,  and  perhaps  an  additional 
strip  of  cloth  to  wind  about  their  shoulders,  but  as  a  rule 
both  men  and  women  look  as  though  they  had  dragged  the 
sheets  from  their  beds  and  wrapped  them  about  their  per- 
sons as  clothing.  Some  of  the  women  have  on  a  sleeveless 
jacket  which  ends  under  the  armpits,  and  below  this  a  skirt 
which  falls  from  the  waist  to  the  feet,  exposing  a  wide  belt 
of  bare  skin.  Others  do  not  wear  the  skirt,  but  use  a  full 
waistcloth  instead.  Almost  all  of  the  people  are  bare- 
footed, and  some  are  barelegged  as  well,  while  very  small 
children  wear  no  clothing  at  all.  Nevertheless,  the  morn- 
ings and  evenings  are  cold,  and  they  shiver  as  the  winds 
blow  through  the  valleys. 

Now  look  at  that  village  of  mud  huts  over  there.  The 
houses  are  not  as  good  as  the  stables  we  use  for  our  cattle. 
The  average  hut,  which  is  about  fifteen  feet  square,  is  made 
of  sun-dried  brick  with  a  roof  of  thin  tiles  or  of  thatch. 
Its  floor  is  the  ground,  plastered  with  cow  dung,  and  its 
windows  are  mere  holes  in  the  walls.  The  fireplace  is  a 
few  bricks  laid  one  upon  the  other ;  there  is  no  chimney, 
and  the  smoke  finds  its  way  out  through  the  door  or  from 
under  the  eaves.  Well-to-do  farmers  may  have  several 
such  huts,  with  a  mud  wall  about  them. 

But  what  are  those  lumps  of  brown  mud  about  the  size 
and  shape  of  a  fat  buckwheat  cake  which  we  see  plastered 
on  the  walls  of  the  houses?  They  cover  the  outsides  of 
the  huts,  and  piles  of  them  have  been  stacked  up  for  sale. 
Those  mud  cakes  are  the  fuel  of  a  great  part  of  East  India. 
They  are  made  of  cow-manure  and  earth  mixed  together 
and  molded  to  shape  by  the  hands  of  the  women  and 
girls.     Wood  is  scarce  in  many  parts  of  Hindustan,  and 


258 


THE  VILLAGES  OF  INDIA 


the  children  walk  along  the  roads  or  through  the  fields, 
following  the  cattle  and  gathering  up  every  bit  to  make 
into  fuel.     The  cooking  is  all  done  with  such  cakes. 

But  let  us  enter  a  hut!  How  uncomfortable  it  is! 
There  is  nothing  homelike  about  it.  The  hut  has  but  one 
room,  and  it  is  dark  and  smoky.     There  are  neither  tables 


Fuel  Gatherers. 


nor  chairs.     There  is  no  place  to  rest  except  on  the  earth 
floor,  and  the  family  squat  there  at  their  meals. 

We  ask  what  they  eat,  and  find  that  the  chief  diet  con- 
sists of  beans,  millet,  and  similar  grains  ground  up  and 
made  into  cakes  or  cooked  as  a  mush.  They  use  pep- 
pers and  other  hot  things  with  their  food.  They  seldom 
have  meat ;  and,  indeed,  many  of  them  would  as  soon  think 
of  becoming   cannibals   as  of   eating  a  tenderloin   steak. 


THE  VILLAGES  OF  INDIA  259 

They  regard  the  cow  as  holy,  and  they  would  be  cast  out 
by  their  families  if  they  ate  beef.  Some  of  the  classes  or 
castes  are  meat  eaters,  and  all  use  a  rancid  melted  butter 
called  ghee.  The  meals  are  usually  served  in  large  brass 
bowls,  with  smaller  ones  for  the  curry  and  condiments. 
The  dishes  are  clean,  and  they  shine  like  well-polished 
gold.     There  are  no  forks,  and  all  eat  with  their  fingers. 


"  — and  then  turn  the  top  stone  around  —  " 

The  men  are  served  first,  and  the  women  take  what  is  left. 
In  many  places  the  food  is  cooked  out  of  doors.  Most 
people  have  only  two  meals  a  day,  and  some  only  one. 

Outside  the  huts  we  see  the  women  making  the  flour  for 
the  family.  They  pour  the  wheat  or  millet  through  a  hole  in 
a  round  stone  which  rests  on  top  of  another,  and  then  turn 
the  top  stone  around,  its  weight  grinding  the  flour.  The 
flour  is  then  mixed  with  water  and  baked  into  cakes  over 
the  coals. 


26o  THE  VILLAGES  OF  INDIA 

But  where  are  the  beds  and  sleeping  places  of  the 
family  ?  There  is  nothing  which  looks  like  a  couch  inside 
the  hut,  and  no  straw  on  the  floor.  We  can  easily  see  by 
going  to  the  door.  The  beds  stand  outside  the  house 
during  the  daytime.  They  are  taken  there  at  sunrise,  in 
order  that  the  people  may  have  more  room.  The  Hindu 
bed  is  merely  a  netting  of  ropes,  stretched  over  a  frame- 
work of  wood  with  wooden  legs  at  the  corners.  It  is  not 
more  than  four  feet  in  length,  so  that  the  sleeper  usually 
lies  with  his  legs  doubled  up.  If  he  stretched  them  out, 
they  would  hang  over  the  foot  of  the  bed.  Sometimes  a 
part  of  the  family  sleeps  out  of  doors.  The  poorer  classes 
do  not  use  nightgowns.  They  wrap  themselves  up  in  the 
sheets  they  wear  in  the  daytime,  and  seem  able  to  sleep 
anywhere,  even  though  it  be  on  the  bare  ground  or  the 
stone  floor  of  a  railway  station. 

But  what  are  those  curtains  hung  over  the  doors  of  many 
of  the  huts  ?  They  are  put  there  to  keep  the  men  who 
pass  by  from  seeing  the  women  within.  The  women  of 
the  upper  classes  live  in  the  back  rooms  of  the  houses,  for 
women  are  usually  secluded  in  India  and  are  never  seen 
by  any  other  men  than  those  of  their  own  families. 

During  our  stay  in  the  village  we  see  a  wedding  proces- 
sion. The  groom  is  a  Hindu  boy  of  fifteen,  and  the  bride  a 
little  Hindu  girl  only  eight  years  of  age.  The  groom 
has  a  red  cloth  cap  on  his  head,  and  is  dressed  in  tawdry 
red  clothing.  He  is  riding  a  white  pony,  and  with  him  is 
a  crowd  of  barelegged  men  and  boys,  his  relatives  and 
friends,  who  are  trotting  along  on  foot  as  an  escort. 

The  little  bride  follows  behind,  but  we  cannot  see  her, 
for  she  is  shut  up  in  that  large  box  covered  with  red  cloth. 
The  box  is  hung  to  a  pole,  and  is  carried  on  the  shoulders 
of  men.     Behind  come  some  women  who  are  bringing  the 


THE  VILLAGES  OF  INDIA  26 1 

housekeeping  furniture  supplied  by  the  bride.  One  group 
carries  her  bed,  and  another  holds  up  a  tray  upon  which 
are  her  cooking  utensils,  consisting  of  three  or  four  iron 
pots  and  a  rice  jar.  The  whole  outfit  would  not  be  worth 
more  than  $1.50  of  our^noney.  We  are  surprised  at  this 
marriage  of  children,  and  learn  that  the  bride  and  groom 
will  not  live  together  until  the  girl  is  about  twelve  years  of 
age.  Then  she  will  come  from  her  parents'  home  to  that 
of  her  husband  and  be  married  for  good.  * 

Every  year  thousands  of  Indian  girls  are  engaged  to  be 
married  while  they  are  still  babies.  They  are  then  looked 
upon  as  wives,  although  they  do  not  live  with  their  hus- 
bands until  they  have  reached  the  age  of  ten  or  twelve  years. 
If,  in  the  meantime,  the  husband  should  die,  they  become 
widows,  and  as  such  their  fate  is  a  sad  one. 

Hindu  widows  cannot  marry  again,  and  they  are  despised 
by  their  families  and  every  one  else.  A  widow  usually  lives 
in  the  house  of  her  mother-in-law,  who  does  all  that  she  can 
to  make  her  life  miserable,  for  it  is  supposed  that  the  hus- 
band is  happy  in  heaven  just  in  proportion  as  his  widow  is 
unhappy  on  earth.  She  cannot  go  to  parties.  She  must 
eat  by  herself,  and  must  cook  her  own  food  apart  from  the 
family.  The  women  of  India  are  in  many  respects  the 
slaves  of  their  husbands.  They  receive  but  little  education, 
although  of  recent  years  the  British  have  established  girls' 
schools,  and  more  liberty  is  being  granted  to  women  as 
time  goes  on.  The  poorer  women  do  the  hardest  of  work. 
We  see  them  digging  in  the  fields,  breaking  stone  on  the 
roads,  and  carrying  burdens  upon  their  heads. 

There  are  some  people  of  India,  however,  who  treat  their 
women  much  better.  The  Jains  are  now  educating  their 
daughters,  and  the  Parsees,  of  whom  we  have  already 
learned  something,  have  good  schools  for  girls.     The  Par- 

CARP.   ASIA —  16 


262 


AMONG  THE  INDIAN   FARMERS 


A  Parsee  Family. 

see  women  go  about  as  they  please.  They  are  beautiful 
and  are  quite  as  intelligent  as  their  sisters  of  Europe  or 
the  United  States. 


J>»tc 


36.    AMONG   THE   INDIAN    FARMERS 


THE  East  Indians  are  a  nation  of  farmers.  Two  thirds 
of  them  live  by  tilling  the  soil,  and  the  country  all  told 
has  more  farmers  than  there  are  people  in  North  and 
South  America.  As  we  have  already  learned,  the  penin- 
sula of  Hindustan  has  almost  every  variety  of  soil  and 
climate,  and  it  therefore  produces  all  sorts  of  crops.  In 
the  high,  dry  lands  of  the  northwest,  great  quantities  of 


AMONG  THE  INDIAN  FARMERS  263 

excellent  wheat  are  raised,  while  the  valley  of  the  Ganges 
and  other  low  lands  yield  the  finest  of  rice.  Rice  is  one 
of  the  chief  crops  wherever  the  rainfall  is  heavy;  and 
in  the  hot  soils  near  Madras  where  the  lands  can  be  irri- 
gated three  crops  are  often  raised  in  one  year.  In  some 
parts  of  India  the  wheat  is  grown  on  irrigated  lands,  and 
in  others  the  crop  depends  on  the  rains  brought  by  the 
moisture-laden  winds  from  the  Indian  Ocean. 

But  let  us  go  out  into  the  country  and  see  how  the 
farming  is  done.  The  fields  are  usually  small,  and  the 
methods  are  rude.  See  that  man  plowing  !  He  is  a  well- 
to-do  farmer,  for  he  has  on  a  turban  and  more  clothes  than 
the  ordinary  man.  He  is  driving  two  bullocks  yoked  to 
what  seems  little  more  than  a  stick  shod  with  iron.  That 
is  the  Hindu  plow.  It  is  so  light  that  the  man  can  carry 
it  out  to  the  field  on  his  shoulders,  and  so  formed  that  it 
only  scratches  the  soil.  Nevertheless,  the  fields  are  gone 
over  again  and  again,  and  the  land  is  fairly  well  tilled, 
producing  large  crops. 

As  we  go  on  we  see  but  little  machinery.  The  grain  is 
cut  with  the  sickle,  and  the  wheat  is  sometimes  pulled  up 
by  the  roots.  Wheat  is  threshed  by  being  trodden  out  by 
bullocks  and  buffaloes,  and  is  then  winnowed  in  the  wind. 
The  straw  is  saved  for  feeding  the  cattle,  but  there  are  no 
barns  to  be  seen,  and  no  elevators  such  as  we  have  in  our 
wheat  lands.  The  grain  is  piled  up  on  the  ground  until  it 
can  be  shipped  to  the  market.  This  is  very  wasteful,  and 
better  methods  are  being  introduced  into  many  parts  of  the 
country. 

Among  the  crops  raised  in  large  quantities  are  cotton, 
jute,  millet,  sugar,  and  beans.  Coffee  is  grown  in  Madras 
and  tea  in  the  Himalaya  Mountains.  The  sugar  made  is 
from   cane   which   thrives   upon   the   great  plain  and  in 


264  AMONG  THE   INDIAN   FARMERS 

Burma.  Millet  and  beans  are  to  be  found  almost  every- 
where, and  they  form  a  large  part  of  the  food  of  the  people. 

Cotton  is  India's  chief  fiber  crop.  The  cotton  plant 
grows  wild  in  some  parts  of  Hindustan,  and  many  believe 
that  it  originally  came  from  here,  although  the  United 
States  produces  a  far  better  cotton  than  any  Indian  cotton 
ever  grown.  The  fiber  of  the  Indian  cotton  is  short,  and 
for  this  reason  it  is  sometimes  used  to  mix  with  wool,  for 
which  purpose  it  brings  a  higher  price  in  our  markets  than 
some  better  cottons.  The  East  Indians  manufacture  it  into 
a  coarse  cloth,  which  is  used  throughout  India,  and  which 
on  account  of  its  low  price  competes  with  our  cotton  in 
Africa  and  Asia.  The  crop  is  grown  about  Bombay  and 
in  Madras  and  on  the  great  northern  plain.  It  is  planted 
in  June  and  is  ripe  in  the  middle  of  our  winter,  the  pick- 
ing season  beginning  in  January  and  lasting  through  March. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  crops  of  Hindustan  depends 
for  its  sale  largely  upon  the  American  market.  We  use 
some  of  it  every  week  in  washing  our  clothes,  and  it  forms 
a  part  of  many  of  our  paints,  dyes,  and  other  coloring 
materials.  This  is  indigo.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of 
acres  are  devoted  to  it,  and  we  can  learn  all  about  how  it  is 
raised.  Indigo  comes  from  a  reed  which  grows  to  a 
height  of  from  three  to  five  feet.  When  the  plants  are 
ready  to  flower  they  are  cut  off  close  to  the  ground,  tied 
up  in  small  bundles,  and  thrown  into  large  vats  of  water. 
After  about  ten  hours  they  begin  to  ferment.  The  water 
turns  yellow,  and  it  is  then  run  off  into  other  vats  in  which 
half-naked  men  stand  and  whip  the  fluid  with  long  bamboo 
sticks,  keeping  it  constantly  in  motion  for  two  or  three 
hours.       ^ 

During  this  process  the  color  changes  from  yellow  to 
green,   and   the   particles   of    blue   indigo  rise   in   flakes. 


AMONG   THE   INDIAN   FARMERS  265 

The  liquor  is  then  allowed  to  settle,  when  the  flakes  sink 
to  the  bottom,  forming  a  sediment  which  is  indigo.  The 
water  is  now  drawn  off,  and  the  indigo  is  boiled  and 
pressed  into  cakes  to  be  shipped  to  the  markets. 

There  is  another  plant  raised  in  India  in  which  we  are 
especially  interested,  for  it  gives  us  linseed  oil,  which,  when 
mixed  with  paint,  aids  in  protecting  our  houses  from  the 
weather.  It  also  forms  a  part  of  the  oilcloth  on  the  floors 
of  our  kitchens  and  bathrooms,  and  is  used  for  making 
waterproof  coverings  for  carriages,  automobiles,  and  other 
such  things.  This  is  the  flax  plant  the  same  as  that  from 
the  fibers  of  which,  when  grown  in  temperate  climates, 
linen  is  made.  The  flax  of  India,  however,  is  not  good 
for  cloth.  It  is  raised  for  the  seeds  which  are  full  of  this  oil 
and  which,  when  pressed,  yield  the  linseed  oil  of  commerce. 

The  plants  are  grown  from  the  seeds,  which  are  drilled 
in  rows  about  one  foot  apart.  They  soon  sprout  and 
grow  to  a  height  of  about  two  feet.  While  still  green, 
they  blossom  out  into  beautiful  flowers  of  pale  blue.  By 
and  by  the  flowers  fall,  and  the  httle  round  fruit  or  seed 
pods  appear.  Every  pod  has  ten  divisions,  each  containing 
one  seed.  The  seeds  are  smooth,  shining,  and  of  a  flat, 
oval  shape.  They  have  a  rich  chestnut  color,  and  look 
just  Hke  our  flax  seeds  at  home.  They  are  threshed  out 
with  flails,  and  winnowed  by  throwing  them  up  into  the  air 
while  the  wind  blows.  A  good  crop  should  yield  about 
five  hundred  pounds  of  seeds  to  the  acre,  and  hundreds  of 
millions  of  pounds  are  raised  every  year. 

Is  it  not  strange  that  these  people  of  East  India,  away 
off  on  the  other  side  of  the  globe,  should  be  aiding  us  in 
making  the  paint  for  our  houses  ?  This  is  only  one  of 
many  things  which  show  us  how  all  the  nations  of  the 
world  are  always  engaged  in  trading  with  and  helping  one 


266  AMONG  THE  INDIAN   FARMERS 

another.  We  have  seen  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  children 
picking  the  tea  leaves  we  use  on  our  tables,  and  in  Malay- 
sia have  watched  the  little  brown  people  gathering  the 
pepper  that  flavors  our  food.  Everywhere  we  go  we 
find  the  natives  using  something  or  other  which  has  come 
from  our  country.  Here  they  are  lighting  their  homes 
with  American  petroleum,  there  they  are  clad  in  American 
cotton,  and  in  many  places  they  employ  American  machin- 
ery. We  thus  learn  that  we  are  tied  to  almost  every 
people  on  earth  by  what  we  do  for  them  and  what  they  are 
doing  for  us. 

We  shall  find  this  the  case  with  many  other  things  in 
India.  Take,  for  instance,  the  jute  plant,  which  thrives 
in  a  low,  sandy  soil  along  the  banks  of  the  Indian  rivers. 
It  has  a  coarse  fiber  which  is  so  long  and  strong  that  it 
makes  excellent'  bagging.  This  plant  is  grown  for  the 
most  part  to  supply  the  demands  of  our  cotton  plantations. 
It  is  used  to  wrap  around  the  bales  of  raw  cotton,  and  also 
as  a  strong  and  firm  cloth  for  all  sorts  of  rough  use. 

In  raising  jute,  the  seed  is  sown  broadcast  in  April,  and 
by  August  the  plants  have  grown  to  a  height  of  a  man's 
head  as  he  sits  upon  horseback,  and  are  ready  for  cutting. 
They  are  cut  off  close  to  the  ground,  and  are  tied  up  into 
bundles  which  are  thrown  into  water  that  the  outer  skin  or 
bark  may  be  rotted  off.  After  a  time  this  skin  can  be 
pulled  away,  when  the  fibers  within,  which  are  long, 
straight,  and  silky,  are  separated  and  washed.  They  are 
then  dried,  and  put  up  into  bales  of  four  hundred  pounds 
each  ready  to  be  sent  to  the  mills  or  the  markets.  The 
exports  as  jute  and  jute  cloth  amount  to  many  millions  of 
dollars  a  year. 

We  have  beautiful  poppies  in  America,  but  they  are 
grown   in   our   flower  gardens.     India  has  vast  fields  of 


AMONG  THE  INDIAN  FARMERS  267 

poppies  cultivated,  not  for  show  but  for  the  making  of 
opium.  We  see  many  such  fields  as  we  travel  over  the 
country.  They  are  planted  under  the  direction  of  the 
British  government,  which  receives  millions  of  dollars 
every  year  from  the  sale  of  this  drug.  The  laws  provide 
that  no  farmer  can  raise  poppies  without  the  permission 
of  the  government  officials,  and  that  every  one  who  does 
so  must  agree  to  sell  the  whole  of  his  crop  to  the  gov- 
ernment. 

The  poppy  seeds  are  sown  in  November,  and  the  plants 
are  plowed  and  weeded  from  that  time  until  February, 
when  they  burst  out  into  beautiful  flowers.  As  the  blos- 
soms are  just  ready  to  fall,  the  capsules  to  which  they 
are  fastened  are  cut  or  scratched  with  a  thin  piece  of  iron. 
This  is  done  in  the  evening,  and  by  the  next  morning  a 
thick  juice  has  oozed  out  on  each  capsule.  This  juice  is 
opium.  It  is  of  a  milky  white  color  at  first,  but  it  gradually 
changes  to  a  rose-red.  It  is  scraped  from  the  plant  and 
saved. 

It  takes  a  great  many  plants  to  make  much  opium. 
The  farmer  rubs  the  scrapings  of  each  capsule  into  the 
palm  of  his  left  hand,  until  he  has  collected  several  ounces, 
when  he  puts  them  into  an  earthen  jar.  After  he  has 
gathered  his  whole  crop,  he  turns  the  jars  over  to  the 
government  and  receives  the  regular  price  for  them. 

The  officials  take  the  jars,  and  from  their  contents  man- 
ufacture the  opium  of  commerce.  Some  of  the  crop  is 
consumed  in  India,  and  during  the  past  a  great  deal  has 
gone  to  China.  Much  is  shipped  to  Europe,  and  some  to 
the  United  States.  Opium  is  of  great  value  as  a  medi- 
cine ;  but  those  who  eat  or  smoke  it  soon  find  that  they 
cannot  get  along  without  it.  They  become  opium  drunk- 
ards, and  it  destroys  their  bodies  and  minds. 


268  AMONG  THE   INDIAN   FARMERS 

In  traveling  over  India,  we  see  large  areas  of  irrigated 
lands.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  wide  northern  plain, 
which  has  been  made  by  the  earth  washings  brought  down 
from  the  Himalayas  by  the  great  rivers.  These  rivers  are 
still  carrying  loads  of  rich  silt,  which  adds  to  the  crops 
wherever  it  can  be  spread  over  the  fields.  In  this  way  the 
irrigating  canals  bring  both  food  and  drink  to  the  plants. 
Moreover,  there  are  many  places  in  Hindustan  where  the 
rainfall  is  scanty.  Some  of  the  lands  of  such  regions  have 
likewise  been  irrigated,  and  it  is  calculated  that  more  than 
one  hundred  million  acres  of  them  have  thus  been  turned 
into  farms.  Indeed,  India  has  so  many  irrigating  canals, 
that  if  they  were  joined  end  to  end,  they  would  form  a  ditch 
long  enough  to  reach  twice  around  the  world. 

A  great  deal  of  the  irrigation  is  by  means  of  wells,  the 
water  being  raised  from  one  level  to  another  on  wheels 
turned  by  bullocks,  or  in  large  bags  of  cow  skin,  which  are 
dipped  into  the  wells,  and  then  emptied  into  troughs,  from 
which  the  water  flows  into  canals. 

The  people  of  India  have  long  been  farming  by  means 
of  irrigation,  but  the  greater  part  of  the  canals  now  in  use 
were  constructed  by  the  British  government,  which  is 
doing  all  it  can  to  raise  enough  food  for  the  people.  The 
population  is  so  enormous  that  a  bad  season  or  drought  is 
like  to  cause  famine,  and  in  the  past  millions  have  been 
starved  at  such  times.  This  can  be  prevented  only  by  the 
proper  cultivation  of  the  land,  and  the  government  is 
trying  to  teach  the  people  better  farming.  It  has  ostab- 
lished  an  agricultural  department,  and  many  experiment 
stations  where  skilled  men  are  testing  new  crops  and  seeds. 
There  are  also  lecturers  who  go  about  among  the  farmers, 
telling  them  how  to  till  their  lands,  and  what  crops  it  will 
best  pay  to  raise. 


THE   STORES  AND  TRADES  OF   INDIA 


269 


37.     THE   STORES   AND   TRADES   OF   INDIA 

THE  business  of  the  Indian  cities  is  carried  on  in  ba- 
zaars much  like  those  we  saw  at  Rangoon  in  Burma. 
In  some  of  the  towns  there  are  many  stores  under  one 
roof,  and  in  others  they  are  crowded  along  streets  so 
narrow  that  cloth  is  stretched  above  them  to  shut  out  the 


A  Business  Street  in  India. 

sun.  The  most  common  store  is  not  much  bigger  than  a 
piano  packing  case ;  and  the  dark-faced,  bearded  merchant 
within,  sits  on  the  floor  with  his  wares  piled  about  him. 
It  is  so  small  that  the  customers  cannot  come  inside  it,  and 
they  stand  out  in  the  street  as  they  shop. 


270  THE  STORES  AND  TRADES  OF  INDIA 

Nevertheless,  many  of  these  little  stores  are  factories  as 
well.  In  the  rear  of  the  merchant,  two  or  more  men  or 
boys  may  be  working  away,  much  of  the  goods  being  made 
where  they  are  sold.  We  see  all  sorts  of  manufacturing 
going  on.  Here,  for  instance,  is  the  shoe  bazaar.  Shoes 
of  bright-colored  leathers  are  hanging  on  the  walls  outside 
the  shops  and  from  strings  tied  to  the  ceilings.  Inside, 
flat  on  the  floor,  sit  the  cobblers  sewing  and  pegging  away. 
They  are  barefooted,  and  they  hold  the  leather  between 
their  toes  as  they  sew.  Farther  on  is  the  bazaar  of  the 
woodworkers,  where  the  carpenters  are  using  their  feet  as 
a  second  pair  of  hands,  sawing  and  planing  as  they  squat 
or  kneel  on  the  floor. 

In  another  street  we  see  scores  of  men  drawing  wire. 
They  have  shops  not  more  than  six  feet  in  width  in  which 
they  are  making  the  fine  gold  and  silver  wire  for  use  in 
embroidery  or  in  weaving  brocade.  The  wire  looks  like 
threads  of  fine  silk,  the  strands  being  so  thin  we  cannot 
believe  them  to  be  metal.  We  say  as  much  to  our  guide, 
and  he  thereupon  asks  us  for  a  coin.  We  hand  him  an 
American  twenty-five  cent  piece,  and  he  tells  the  workmen 
to  turn  it  into  wire.  They  take  it,  and  in  a  very  short  time 
have  drawn  the  silver  out  into  a  strand  so  fine  that  it  is 
almost  a  half  mile  in  length.  There  are  a  thousand  men 
engaged  in.  wire  drawing  in  Lucknow ;  and  in  Delhi  we 
shall  see  dark-faced  Hindu  men  and  boys  using  such  gold 
and  silver  wire  in  embroidering  ladies*  dresses  which  are  to 
be  sent  to  Europe  for  sale. 

The  Indians  make  most  beautiful  embroideries,  and  they 
weave  curtains  and  carpets  which  are  unsurpassed  in  the 
world.  Think  of  stuff  so  expensive  that  enough  of  it  for 
a  gown  costs  from  two  hundred  to  five  thousand  dollars ! 
This  is  the  famous  kincob  cloth  which  is  woven  at  Ahmada- 


THE  STORES  AND  TRADES  OF  INDIA 


271 


bad,  in  north  India.  It  is  a  heavy  brocade  of  gold  and 
silver,  and  is,  perhaps,  the  most  costly  stuff  made  any- 
where. 

But  suppose  we  ask  the  merchants  to  show  us  some 
shawls.  India  has  long  been  noted  for  its  shawls,  some 
kinds  of  which  sell  for  several  hundred  dollars  apiece. 
The  best  are  known  as  cashmere  shawls,  being  woven  of 


A  Shawl  Merchant. 


the  fine  wool  of  Cashmere  goats.  They  are  made  by  hand, 
by  families  who  work  at  the  trade  from  generation  to  gen- 
eration.    It  takes  a  long  time  to  weave  one. 

Our  turbaned  Hindu  storekeeper  shows  us  a  shawl  and 
asks  us  to  feel  it.  It  is  as  soft  as  down,  and  as  light  as  so 
many  feathers.  Now  the  man  tells  his  clerks  to  open  it 
out.  It  is  as  large  as  a  bedquilt.  He  asks  for  a  ring.  I 
pull  one  from  my  little  finger,  when  lo,  he  puts  one  end  of 


272 


THE   STORES   AND  TRADES   OF  INDIA 


the  shawl  into  the  ring  and  draws  the  whole  shawl  through 

it.     This  is  the  famous  ring  shawl  of  India,  one  of  the 

finest  of  all  woolen  fabrics. 

The  muslins  of  Dacca  are  equally  fine,  the  hanks  of  yarn 

of  which  the  choicest  are  made  requiring  four  hundred  of 

them  to  weigh  one  pound.     Indeed,  a  pound  of  cotton  was 

once  turned  into  a   Dacca  yarn  so  fine  that  it  measured 

two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  in  length.     The  East  Indians 

make  all  kinds  of  cottons,  and  almost  every  variety  of  fine 

silks  and  woolens.     Much 

of  such  work  is  still  done 

in    the   houses,   although 

of  late  years  many  mills 

and  factories  have  been 

erected,  and  the  spinning 

and  weaving  are  now  done 

by  machinery. 

Continuing  our  travels, 

we    observe    that    these 

people  can  do  almost  any 

kind  of  mechanical  labor. 
A  Hindu  Carpenter.         .  ^j^^^    ^^^^   ^^^^    ^^^^^ 

they  tan  and  work  leather,  and  do  artistic  carving  in  ivory 
and  wood.  They  weave  beautiful  carpets  and  rugs,  and 
carve  and  mold  brass  which  is  shipped  all  over  the  world. 
Every  town  has  its  blacksmiths  and  coppersmiths,  and  the 
whole  peninsula  is  a  beehive  of  industries  of  one  kind  or 
another. 

At  present  a  vast  number  of  the  things  made  are  turned 
out  by  hand ;  but  factories  are  being  gradually  established, 
and  machinery  will  some  day  make  the  East  Indians  one 
of  the  leading  manufacturing  peoples. 

As  we  go  on  through  the  business  parts  of  the  cities,  we 


THE   STORES   AND   TRADES  OF  INDIA 


273 


are  stopped  again  and  again  by  dealers  and  peddlers  who 
beseech  us  to  buy.  The  men  stand  in  their  stores,  and 
hold  up  .their  goods,  crying  out :  "  Me  poor  man.  Sahib  ! 
Me  good  man!  Sahib,  buy  something!"  They  now  and 
then  bring  their  goods  out  to  the  carriages ;  and  peddlers 
run  along  after  us  and  throw  their  wares  into  our  laps. 
We  find  that  nearly  every  important  merchant  has  men 


"  It  is  made  of  the  purest  white  marble." 

about  the  hotels  and  on  the  streets  who  ask  foreigners  to 
.come  to  his  shop  to  trade.  Each  says  his  master's  place 
is  the  cheapest,  but  we  know  that  if  we  go  with  him  he 
will  get  a  commission  on  the  money  we  spend. 

The  Hindus  have  been  noted  for  ages  for  their  fine  work 
in  gold  and  silver  and  in  precious  stones.  They  have  made 
not  only  the  most  beautiful  rings,  brooches,  chains,  and 
other  ornaments  for  personal  adornment,  but  have  done 
wonders  in  the  decoration  of  furniture  and  buildings.     At 


2/4  THE  STORES  AND   TRADES  OF  INDIA 

Agra,  in  north  India,  stands  the  Taj  Mahal,  which  is 
thought  by  travelers  to  be  the  most  beautiful  structure  of 
the  whole  world.  It  was  erected  by  Shah  Jehan,  a  Moham- 
medan ruler  of  northern  India,  as  a  tomb  for  his  favorite 
wife.  It  is  of  the  purest  white  marble,  and  when  it  was 
completed,  its  interior  was  inlaid  with  jewels  and  precious 
stones.  Another  fine  work  of  that  time  was  the  Peacock 
Throne  used  by  this  same  ruler.  This  was  made  in  the 
form  of  a  peacock,  the  feathers  being  precious  stones  set 
in  gold  in  the  natural  colors  of  the  peacock's  tail.  It  was 
composed  of  diamonds,  rubies,  carbuncles,  emeralds,  and 
other  jewels  and  was  of  such  value  that  it  cost,  it  is  said, 
over  thirty  million  dollars. 

As  our  guide  tells  us  these  stories  of  India's  past,  we  ob- 
serve that  the  women  of  to-day  are  loaded  with  necklaces, 
bracelets,  and  rings,  and  we  think  it  would  be  fine  to  visit 
the  jewelry  shops,  and  perhaps  buy  some  beautiful  things  to 
carry  back  home.  We  imagine  the  stores  must  be  fine, 
and  a  vision  of  plate  glass  cases  containing  a  gorgeous 
display  of  watches  and  rings,  and  of  pearls,  diamonds,  and 
other  precious  stones  comes  before  us. 

What  do  we  find  ? 

The  jewelry  store  which  we  visit  is  little  more  than  a  hole 
in  the  wall.  It  is  only  about  ten  feet  square,  and  its  dark- 
skinned,  turbaned,  long-gowned  merchant  looks  more  like 
a  beggar  than  an  owner  of  gold  or  diamonds.  He  salutes , 
us  politely  and  asks  us  to  come  in,  offering  us  a  seat  on  the 
floor.  He  then  directs  a  servant  to  fetch  a  red  cashmere 
shawl,  and  spreads  this  out  between  us  and  him.  He  gives 
another  direction,  and  the  servant  brings  in  a  bundle 
wrapped  round  with  a  dirty  white  cotton  cloth. 

The  bundle  is  set  down  in  front  of  the  merchant.  He 
opens  it  and  displays  upon  the  red  shawl  a  stock  of  gold 


THE  STORES  AND  TRADES  OF  INDIA  2/5 

and  silver  jewelry  which  dazzles  our  eyes.  He  lays  out 
bracelets  and  rings  of  all  sizes,  strings  of  pearls,  rubies, 
and  sapphires,  and  also  a  magnificent  necklace  of  diamonds, 
each  of  which  is  as  big  as  a  good-sized  bean.  To  these 
treasures  he  adds  strands  of  topazes  and  emeralds,  set  in 
curiously  carved  gold,  hanging  one  by  the  other  from  a 
great  golden  band.  In  addition  there  are  brooches  which 
cost  a  small  fortune,  and  we  almost  gasp  as  we  see  the 
wealth  laid  out  before  us. 

We  pick  up  a  ring,  and  talk  for  an  hour  before  we  can 
buy.  In  India  there  are  no  fixed  prices,  and  one  always 
bargains  in  making  a  purchase.  We  cannot  get  accus- 
tomed to  this  method  of  buying,  and  soon  learn  to  say  just 
how  much  we  will  give,  and  then  walk  away.  If  our  offer 
is  fair,  we  seldom  go  more  than  a  few  steps  before  the 
merchant  runs  up  with  the  goods,  and  grudgingly  tells  us 
that  we  can  have  them  at  our  own  price.  The  average 
Hindu  has  more  time  than  money,  and  he  will  talk  all  day 
for  a  very  few  cents. 

In  doing  business  with  the  East  Indians  we  use  silver 
and  copper  coins  whose  value  is  based  on  the  rupee,  a 
piece  of  silver  worth  about  thirty-three  cents  of  our  money, 
or  about  one  third  of  a  dollar.  The  rupee  is  a  little  larger 
than  an  American  quarter.  The  smaller  coins  are  silver 
annas  and  copper  pice  and  pies.  It  takes  sixteen  annas 
to  make  one  rupee,  so  that  an  anna  is  worth  about  two 
American  cents.  Three  pies  make  one  pice,  and  twelve 
pies  an  anna.     A  pie  is  equal  to  about  one  sixth  of  a  cent. 

Before  the  British  came,  the  East  Indians  had  no  bank- 
ing system  to  speak  of.  Most  of  their  savings  were  either 
in  the  shape  of  gold  and  silver  coins  which  they  hid  in  their 
houses  or  buried  underground  or  in  jewelry  consisting  of 
ornaments  of  gold  and  silver  and  diamonds  and  other  pre- 


2/6  THE   RELIGIONS  OF   INDIA 

cious  Stones.  Much  wealth  is  still  kept  in  these  ways, 
but  there  are  now  banks  all  over  the  country,  including 
postal  savings  banks  in  which  about  thirteen  hundred  thou- 
sand people  have  money  on  deposit. 

The  trade  and  wealth  of  India  is  steadily  growing,  and 
this  is  so  not  only  as  regards  its  home  trade,  but  also  as  to 
what  it  buys  from  and  sells  to  other  countries.  The  im- 
ports in  some  years  amount  to  more  than  five  hundred  mil- 
lion dollars,  and  the  exports  are  often  much  greater. 
India's  foreign  commerce,  including  exports  and  imports, 
is  in  excess  of  that  of  any  other  country  of  Asia,  so  you  see 
that  it  has  an  important  place  in  the  markets  of  not  only 
this  continent,  but  of  the  whole  world. 


>>•<« 


38.   THE   RELIGIONS   OF    INDIA.      A   VISIT  TO 
BENARES 

THE  people  of  East  India  are  very  religious.  As  we 
travel  about,  we  see  temples  and  shrines  almost  every- 
where. We  meet  pilgrims  going  from  one  holy  place  to 
another,  and  frequently  see  men  and  women  praying  to 
idols  of  horrible  shapes.  The  empire  is  one  of  many  reli- 
gions. It  has  nine  miUion  Buddhists,  about  sixty  million 
Mohammedans,  and  more  than  two  hundred  million  Hindus. 
Besides  these  there  are  the  Parsees,  whom  we  saw  at  Bom-* 
bay,  and  many  people  who  worship  spirits,  as  well  as  some 
who,  converted  by  our  missionaries,  now  believe  in  Chris- 
tianity. 

We  have  already  learned  something  of  Buddhism  in 
Japan,  Siam,  and  Burma  and  we  shall  find  many  Moham- 
medans as  we   go  on  to  the  westward   through    Persia, 


THE   RELIGIONS  OF  INDIA 


277 


Arabia,  and  Turkey.  The  Hindus  are  to  be  found  in 
India  only,  and  there  are  so  many  of  them  that  they  num- 
ber about  one  eighth  of  all  the  world's  people.  They  have 
a  strange  religion,  based  upon  a  belief  in  one  God  who 
may  appear  in  so  many  different  forms  that  the  people  are 
sometimes  said  to  have  milHons  of  gods.  These  gods  are 
often  represented  by 
images  or  idols. 

Hinduism  has  had 
a  great  effect  upon 
India.  It  has  caused 
the  people  to  be  di- 
vided into  classes  or 
castes,  each  of  which 
must  do  certain 
things,  follow  certain 
trades,  and  be  supe- 
rior or  subservient 
to  the  other  castes. 
At  first  there  were 
only  four  great 
castes ;  the  priest,  the  warriors,  the  farmers,  and  the  slaves. 
But  these  four  castes  have  been  so  subdivided  that  there  is 
now  a  special  caste  for  every  trade  and  every  walk  in  life. 
It  is  not  permitted  that  a  man  should  do  anything  outside 
the  work  of  his  caste.  If  a  boy's  father  is  a  priest,  the  boy 
must  follow  the  priesthood ;  if  a  merchant,  he  must  be  a 
merchant ;  if  a  shoemaker,  a  shoemaker ;  and  if  a  street 
sweeper,  he  can  have  no  hope  but  that  he  will  be  sweeping 
streets  for  the  term  of  his  life.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  back- 
ward a  people  must  be  when  hampered  by  conditions  like 
these. 

It  is  also  believed  that  when  a  man  dies,  he  will  be  born 

CARP.  ASIA  —  1 7 


Boys  of  Benares. 


2/8 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  INDIA 


again  as  a  plant,  an  animal,  or  a  mineral ;  or  perhaps  as  a 
human  being  of  a  higher  or  lower  class  than  that  in  which 
he  now  is.  Moreover,  one  may  acquire  merit  by  torturing 
himself,  and  for  that  reason  some  forsake  home  and  friends 
to  wander  among  strangers.  To  be  considered  saints,  some 
fast  until  they  are  all  skin  and  bone ;  some  sleep  on  beds 

p— -- ....„.„..„„„. .,..,,„ ....,.,..,„.„... .. ........... I    of  broken  stones  or  sharp 

spikes ;  while  others  try  to 
do  without  sleep  alto- 
gether. Some  will  stand 
on  one  leg  for  days  at  a 
time,  and  others  will  hold 
up  an  arm  or  a  leg  until  it 
becomes  stiff  and  cannot 
be  moved. 

But  suppose  we  visit 
the  holy  city  of  Benares, 
where  tens  of  thousands 
of  Hindus  go  every  month 
to  worship  and  bathe  in 
the  Ganges.  The  Ganges 
is  considered  sacred 
throughout  its  whole 
length,  but  the  spot  where 

Benares  is  situated  is  re- 
«- gorgeous  in  jewelry-"  ^^^^^^  ^^   ^^^   ^^^^  ^^j^ 

of  all.  The  Hindu  who  dies  within  ten  miles  of  it  feels 
sure  of  salvation,  and  if  he  can  bathe  there,  he  believes  that 
his  sins  will  be  washed  away  forever. 

Benares  contains  about  two  hundred  thousand  people, 
and  many  thousands  of  pilgrims  from  all  parts  of  India 
go  there  every  year.  Some  come  on  the  trains  and 
others  on  foot  walking  hundreds  of   miles  and  kneeling 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  INDIA 


279 


down  to  pray  at  every  few  steps  on  the  way.  When  they 
arrive,  they  move  about  from  temple  to  temple,  saying  their 
prayers.  They  go  into  the  river  to  bathe  and  pray,  and 
they  may  be  seen  everywhere  engaged  in  their  devo- 
tions. 

Let  us  suppose  that  we  are  among  them.  The  day  is 
just  breaking,  and  we  are  starting  out  to  see  them  at  their 
baths  in  the  Ganges. 
The  roads  are  already 
filled  with  dark-skinned 
men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren clad  in  long  strips 
of  cotton,  colored  white, 
red,  and  blue.  Each 
wraps  his  strip  around 
his  body  and  pulls  it  over 
his  face,  so  that  even  the 
mouth  and  nostrils  are 
covered,  and  we  can  see 
only  the  eyes.  The  air 
is  cold  and  damp  at  this 
early  hour. 

The  worshipers  are  of 
all  classes.  Some  are 
half  naked,  and  the  legs 

of  many  are  bare  to  the  thighs.  Those  of  the  richer 
classes  have  on  woolen  blankets  and  cashmere  shawls  of 
bright  red.  The  poor  are  barefooted,  and  only  the  richest 
wear  shoes.  The  women  are  gorgeous  with  jewelry. 
Even  the  poorest  have  their  arms  covered  from  wrist  to 
elbow  with  silver  or  brass  bracelets.  All  have  anklets  of 
silver  or  gold,  while  not  a  few  actually  wear  rings  and  bells 
on  their  toes.     Some  have  rings  in  their  noses,  and  these 


"  All  have  anklets  of  silver  or  gold." 


280  THE   RELIGIONS  OF   INDIA 

rings  are  often  as  big  around  as  the  bottom  of  a  tin  cup,  so 
that  its  owner  must  put  her  food  through  the  ring  as  she  eats. 
Every  one  has  a  brass  jar  to  fetch  the  holy  water  of  the 
Ganges  up  to  the  temple,  or  to  carry  some  back  to  his  home. 

We  push  our  way  through  the  crowds  to  the  upper  end 
of  the  city,  where  we  get  a  boat  upon  which  to  go  down  the 
river.  We  have  six  dusky  sailors  clad  in  white  gowns  and 
high  turbans  to  row  us  ;  and  we  direct  them  to  keep  near 
the  shore.  We  float  along  the  stream  not  far  from  the 
steps  which  lead  up  to  the  temples,  lining  the  right  bank 
of  the  river.  There  are  about  three  miles  of  these  steps, 
upon  which  thousands  of  half-naked,  dripping  men  and 
women  are  continually  moving.  Their  wet  clothes  cling  to 
their  bodies,  and  Uttle  streams  run  down  the  steps.  Now 
look  at  the  crowd  in  the  river.  Hundreds  are  bathing, 
standing  near  the  shore  with  the  water  up  to  their  waists. 
Others  are  kneeling  on  the  banks,  or  muttering  prayers  as 
they  sit  there ;  Hfting  up  their  brass  bowls  again  and  again 
to  pour  the  sacred  fluid  over  their  bodies. 

But  see,  the  sun  rises  !  Its  rays  make  the  half-naked 
people  shine  like  polished  mahogany.  They  turn  the  brass 
jars  to  gold,  and  the  jewelry  becomes  more  gorgeous  than 
ever  against  the  wet  background  of  the  dark  skins. 

We  reach  over  the  edge  of  the  boat  and  dip  our  hands 
into  the  water.  It  is  cold,  and  we  do  not  wonder  that  the 
people  shiver  as  they  pour  it  over  their  bodies.  Some  are 
invalids,  and  they  look  lean  and  sickly.  Many  are  brought 
here  to  die ;  for  they  feel  sure  that  if  they  should  pass 
away  in  the  river  itself,  their  life  in  the  next  world  will  be 
happy.  As  we  look,  a  confused  noise  of  many  voices  in 
prayer  rises  from  the  great  crowd  about  us,  and  we  wonder 
at  this  worship  of  a  stream,  which  is  so  real  to  these 
millions  of  people. 


(281) 


Now  look  at  the  crowd  in  the  river. 


282 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF  INDIA 


Among  the  bathers,  we  see  many  gray-haired.  A 
skeleton-like  old  man  wearing  nothing  but  a  waistcloth, 
glued,  as  it  were,  by  the  water  to  his  now  dripping  skin, 
is  standing  there  at  the  foot  of  that  temple.  See !  he 
throws  his  shriveled  arms  upward,  and  with  long,  snaky 
fingers  outstretched,  through  chattering  teeth,  prays  to  the 
sun.     Just  beyond  him  is  a  young  woman  who  is  casting 


Four  Indian  Priests, 


flowers  into  the  Ganges,  and  all  about  us,  on  the  drier  parts 
of  the  steps  under  great  umbrellas,  half-naked,  black- 
skinned  priests  are  sitting.  They  have  little  boxes  of  red 
and  white  paint  before  them,  and  they  mark  the  bathers, 
as  they  come  from  the  water,  with  the  charms  and  emblems 
of  the  great  Hindu  gods. 

Floating  on  down  the  stream,  we  see  a  thick  smoke  aris- 
ing from  a  little  hollow  or  ravine  in  the  bank,  and  ask  our 


THE  RELIGIONS   OF  INDIA  283 

boatman  to  stop  there.  The  smoke  comes  from  some 
fires,  which  have  been  built,  just  a  little  back  from  the 
water,  for  burning  the  dead.  The  Hindus  believe  in  cre- 
mation and  think  that,  if  their  bodies  are  burned  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ganges  and  the  ashes  thrown  into  the  river, 
their  souls  will  go  straight  to  the  better  land.  Such  funeral 
pyres  may  be  seen  everywhere  along  the  Ganges,  and  there 
are  burning  ghats  or  cremation  places  in  all  the  cities. 

But  let  us  leave  our  boat  and  visit  the  temples.  There 
are  one  thousand  in  Benares,  and  they  represent  many 
gods.  They  are  of  every  description,  the  Golden  Temple 
being  the  finest.  This  temple  has  spires  plated  with  gold, 
which  may  be  seen  miles  away  in  the  country  about.  It  is 
devoted  to  Shiva,  a  terrible  god,  who  is  supposed  to  sit  en- 
throned on  one  of  the  Himalaya  Mountains,  where  he  is 
waited  upon  by  innumerable  spirits.  One  of  his  symbols 
is  the  bull,  as  shown  in  a  temple  near  by,  where  a  hundred 
live  sacred  bulls  are  kept  all  the  year  round.  They  are 
white  and  dove-colored  animals,  beautifully  formed,  having 
humps  on  their  backs  and  long  ears  which  hang  down  like 
those  of  a  rabbit. 

As  we  enter  the  courtyard  of  the  temple  we  find  the 
people  feeding  and  fondling  the  bulls.  They  throw  flowers 
to  them,  and  put  garlands  of  flowers  around  their  necks. 
Some  have  brought  water  from  the  Ganges  in  their  brass 
jars.  They  offer  this  to  the  bulls,  and  chant  prayers  as 
they  drink.  Outside  the  temple  are  men  peddling  flowers 
to  feed  to  the  animals,  and  they  are  kept  fat  upon  flowers, 
grass,  and  vegetables. 

Leaving  this  temple  we  drive  on  through  the  city,  see- 
ing sacred  cattle  here  and  there  working.  We  have  al- 
ready observed  them  in  all  parts  of  India  hauling  carts 
and  pulling  the  plows.     They  are  also  harnessed  to  cabs 


284 


THE   RELIGIONS   OF   INDIA 


and  sulkylike  carriages,  their  horns  often  decorated  with 
ribbons  and  flowers. 

But  there  is  one  curious  worshiping  place  that  we  must 
visit  before  leaving  Benares.  This  is  a  temple  devoted  to 
Durga,  the  wife  of  Shiva.  It  is  also  supposed  by  some 
to  be  the  home  of  the  monkey  god,  Hanuman.     It  is  called 


"  But  there  is  one  curious  worshiping  place." 

the  Monkey  Temple  by  travelers,  and  we  do  not  wonder 
why  as  we  enter  its  court.  The  temple  is  surrounded  by  a 
wall  over  which  hang  mighty  trees  filled  with  chattering 
monkeys,  and  there  are  other  monkeys  playing  about  in  the 
court.  There  are  peddlers  at  the  entrance  who  have  pop- 
corn for  sale.  We  buy  some  and  throw  it  down  on  the 
floor.    As  it  falls,  the  monkeys  cry  out ;  they  leap  down  in 


THE  NATIVE   STATES  OF  INDIA  285 

droves,  and  fight  over  the  corn.  We  feed  them  again  and 
again,  while  the  guards  warn  us  to  be  careful,  saying  that 
the  animals  are  vicious,  and  often  bite  strangers. 

39.   THE  NATIVE  STATES  OF  INDIA.     A  VISIT 
TO   THE   RAJAH    OF   JAIPUR 

TO-DAY  we  are  to  visit  one  of  the  chief  native  states. 
Parts  of  India,  as  we  have  learned,  are  not  directly 
ruled  by  the  British.  Scattered  over  Hindustan  are  many 
provinces,  some  large  and  some  small,  which  are  governed 
by  native  princes  or  rajahs,  each  of  whom  has  the  help 
and  advice  of  a  British  resident  or  official,  whom  the 
Viceroy  stations  at  the  capital.  The  rajahs  collect  the 
taxes  and  administer  the  laws.  They  can  make  public  im- 
provements, organize  schools,  and  develop  their  countries 
or  not  as  they  will.  But  if  a  rajah  misgoverns  or  oppresses 
his  subjects,  the  British  adviser  rebukes  him,  and  the  Vice- 
roy may  even  dethrone  him  and  appoint  another  man  in 
his  place. 

Some  of  these  rajahs  are  well  educated,  and  they  are 
doing  all  they  can  to  better  the  condition  of  their  people. 
Several  have  estabUshed  factories  and  schools  and  others 
are  making  great  irrigation  works  and  teaching  their 
farmers  how  to  get  the  most  out  of  the  land.  Almost 
all  of  them  live  in  great  splendor,  having  gorgeous  palaces 
with  thousands  of  servants.  Some  have  armies  with  camel 
and  elephant  troops  to  impress  their  own  subjects  as  to 
their  power,  although  the  British  do  not  allow  them  to 
make  war  upon  their  neighbors.  They  often  ride  upon 
elephants  when  they  go  in  state  from  one  place  to  an- 
other. 


(286)      "They  often  ride  upon  elephants  when  they  go  in  state." 


THE  NATIVE   STATES   OF  INDIA  28/ 

The  most  powerful  of  these  native  rulers  is  the  Nizam 
of  Haidarabad,  whose  capital  city,  surrounded  by  walls, 
we  have  already  seen.  Another  strong  rajah  governs 
Mysore  in  south  India,  and  others  have  provinces  in  parts 
of  the  great  plain,  in  Kashmir,  and  in  the  Himalaya 
Mountains.  Several  of  the  most  important  rajahs  are  in 
western  India,  in  a  region  known  as  Rajputana,  and  we 
can  visit  one  of  them  on  our  way  from  Benares  to  Bombay. 

The  native  state  we  select  is  Jaipur  (jl'poor).  It  is  al- 
most twice  as  large  as  Massachusetts,  and  its  population 
is  over  two  millions.  The  prince  who  rules  it  has  the 
title  of  Maharajah.  He  is  friendly  to  foreigners,  and 
will  make  us  at  home. 

Here  we  are  at  his  capital.  It  is  said  to  be  the  finest 
native  city  in  India,  and  we  have  seen  nothing  like  it 
so  far  in  our  travels.  Imagine  a  city  as  big  as  Omaha, 
surrounded  by  a  thick  wall  as  high  as  a  two-story  house, 
which  is  pierced  by  seven  gates  guarded  by  cannon.  Let 
the  buildings  be  of  two  stories  and  of  the  same  height, 
and  painted  rose-pink.  Let  them  stand  close  to  the  side- 
walks with  balconies  projecting  so  that  arcades  run  below 
from  house  to  house,  enabling  one  to  be  out  of  the  sun 
as  he  walks  through  the  town.  Let  the  streets  be  wide 
and  as  hard  and  as  smooth  as  our  best  roads  at  home. 
Lay  them  out  so  that  they  cross  one  another  at  right 
angles,  and  you  have  some  idea  of  Jaipur. 

But  look  at  the  roofs.  They  are  flat,  and  upon  them  sit 
or  walk  women  and  children  clad  in  gay  colors.  Flocks 
of  parrots,  pigeons,  and  crows  are  flying  about  and  resting 
here  and  there  on  them.  The  balconies  are  filled  with  dark- 
faced  men  and  boys  wearing  turbans  and  gowns,  and  with 
bright-eyed  Hindu  maidens  whose  faces  are  covered  with 
shawls  except  that  their  eyes  shine  out  through  the  folds. 


288 


THE  NATIVE   STATES   OF  INDIA 


We  walk  through  the  arcades,  stopping  at  the  shops 
in  which  the  dark-skinned,  bearded  merchants  sit  cross- 
legged  with  their  goods  piled  around  them.  They  have 
cottons  and  silks,  and  jewelry  of  all  kinds,  together  with 
the  knickknacks  and  other  wares  used  by  the  people. 

We  step  out  into  the  street  and  make  our  way  through 


A  SiiccL  in  Jaipur. 

one  of  the  most  picturesque  crowds  of  men  and  beasts 
to  be  found  in  the  world.  The  people  are  dark-faced, 
and  many  of  them  are  fine-looking.  Some  rush  along,  and 
others  move  leisurely.  Some  are  chatting;  others  are 
pushing  and  yelling. 

There  are  hundreds  of  camels,  sullenly  stalking  with  un- 
gainly stride  through  the  crowds.  Here  comes  one  which 
a  woman  is  riding.     She  sits  on  the  hump,  her  bare  feet 


THE  NATIVE  STATES  OF   INDIA  289 

upon  which  show  golden  anklets  resting  against  the  sides 
of  the  animal.  She  has  a  shawl  over  her  head,  but  this 
is  so  folded  that  one  of  her  black  eyes  can  be  seen,  as 
she  motions  her  servant,  who  is  leading  the  beast,  where 
to  go. 

See  that  other  camel  coming  up  the  street  with  a  load  of 
stones  on  each  side  his  hump.  He  has  two  great  pav- 
ing flags,  each  as  big  as  the  top  of  a  table,  slung  there 
by  ropes.  He  is  evidently  disgusted ;  for  he  moves  along 
with  his  lower  lip  down,  pouting  like  a  spoiled  child.  At 
the  side  of  the  road  kneels  a  third  camel,  being  loaded 
with  lumber.  His  drivers  are  tying  long  rafters,  one  after 
another,  to  his  back.  At  each  addition  the  great  beast 
blubbers  and  cries  like  a  baby.  We  can  see  the  tears 
roll  down  from  his  proud,  angry  eyes.  Up  the  street 
ambles  another  camel  ridden  by  a  soldier,  and  behind 
him  is  one  with  a  boy  on  his  back. 

But  look  at  the  elephants  !  There  are  a  dozen  of  them, 
each  ridden  by  a  black  driver  in  white  clothes  and  turban, 
moving  down  the  street  double  file.  Those  elephants  be- 
long to  the  rajah,  and  the  drivers  are  his  servants  who 
are  taking  the  beasts  out  for  exercise. 

And  then  there  are  thousands  of  bullocks,  carrying  hay, 
stones,  and  various  kinds  of  merchandise.  Here  comes  one 
with  a  man  on  his  back.  He  wears  a  turban,  and  his  long 
beard,  rich  gown,  and  red  leather  shoes  turned  up  at  the 
toes,  make  us  wonder  who  he  may  be. 

We  see  Arabian  horses  ridden  by  the  rajah's  officials 
and  others  of  the  rich  men  of  the  city.  The  riders 
have  gold  chains  round  their  necks,  gold  bracelets  on 
their  arms,  and  gold  rings  on  their  fingers.  They  wear 
gold-embroidered  turbans  and  cloth-of-gold  vests,  while 
their  lower  garments  are  of  cloths  rich  and  costly.     They 


290  THE  NATIVE   STATES   OF  INDIA 

sit  Straight  as  they  ride,  and  by  the  side  of  each  runs  a 
groom  who  having  cleared  the  way  for  his  master  goes 
back  and  trots  along  by  his  stirrup  waiting  for  orders. 

The  crowd  on  foot  is  equally  interesting.  See  these 
Hindu  girls  who  are  shouting  out  strange  songs  as  they 
dance  on  the  sidewalk !  They  are  dark-faced,  but  by  no 
means  bad-looking.  They  are  dressed  in  gay-colored 
cottons,  and  their  persons  are  loaded  with  necklaces,  rings, 
bracelets,  and  anklets.  Some  of  them  have  rings  on  their 
toes.  They  are  professional  singers  who  are  always  in 
demand  at  weddings  and  parties.  Behind  them  come 
some  Mohammedan  women  wearing  a  hideous  costume. 
It  consists  of  a  short  purple  jacket  and  a  divided  skirt  of 
red  cotton  which  is  full  at  the  waist  and  narrows  as  it 
goes  downward,  fitting  tight  at  the  knees  and  the 
calves. 

As  we  go  on,  we  see  that  all  the  women  wear  jewelry. 
Even  those  who  work  on  the  street  breaking  stones  and 
carrying  earth  to  smooth  the  roadway  have  great  silver 
rings  on  their  ankles  and  bracelets  of  silver  or  glass  on 
their  wrists.  Many  have  rings  in  their  noses,  and  some 
little  girls  have  rings  and  bells  on  their  toes. 

But  here  comes  the  street-sprinkling  machine  of  Jaipur. 
It  is  a  brown-skinned,  half-naked  man  with  a  bag  on  his 
back.  The  bag  is  a  pigskin,  sewed  up  at  the  legs  and 
tail,  the  neck  forming  the  mouth.  It  contains  several  gal- 
lons, and  the  man  scatters  the  water  over  the  street  by 
holding  his  hand  at  the  mouth  of  the  bag  and  swinging 
himself  this  way  and  that  as  he  walks.  He  belongs  to  the 
caste  of  the  water-carriers,  whose  business  descends  from 
father  to  son. 

Continuing  our  way  through  scenes  of  this  kind,  we  come 
at  last  to  the  palace  and  gardens  of  the  Maharajah.     They 


THE  NATIVE  STATES  OF  INDIA 


291 


lie  in  an  angle  formed  by  the  two  main  streets  and  cover 
one  seventh  of  the  area  of  the  whole  city.  The  palaces 
are  large  buildings  surrounding  courts  paved  with  white 
marble.  They  contain  many  rooms  which  are  carpeted 
with  splendid  old  rugs.  There  is  one  great  parlor  whose 
floor  is  covered  with  hundreds  of  skins  of  tigers  and 
leopards,  killed  by  the 
rajah. 

But  the  officials  have 
informed  us  that  the 
rajah  has  ordered  that 
the  best  of  his  elephants 
be  brought  out  for  us. 
We  are  to  spend  a  day 
in  a  jaunt  through  the 
country ;  and  the  men 
ask  us  to  first  have  a  look 
at  the  elephants  as  they 
stand  in  the  stables. 

What  magnificent 
creatures  they  are! 
They  are  larger  than  any 
we  have  yet  seen  in  our  L^^^^^^ 
travels.  Their  heads  are 
painted  or  tattooed  in 
the  patterns  of  a  camel's-hair  shawl.  Each  beast  has  a 
brass  chain  about  his  neck,  and  his  white  ivory  tusks,  cut 
off  at  the  ends,  are  tipped  with  brass  knobs  and  bound 
round  with  heavy  brass  rings. 

We  wait  until  the  keepers  lead  the  huge  creatures  out 
into  the  courtyard,  and  order  each  to  kneel  down  that 
he  may  be  blanketed  and  have  a  saddle  placed  on  his 
back.      The   saddle   is   an  immense   wooden  framework 


—  the  street-sprinkling  machine- 


292 


THE  NATIVE   STATES  OF  INDIA 


cushioned  with  cloth.  The  beasts  are  so  large  that  even 
when  kneeling  the  saddles  are  high  from  the  ground.  We 
do  not  know  how  to  mount,  but  the  men  bring  out  a  ladder, 
and  we  climb  up  step  by  step. 

Now   the   drivers   have    straddled    the    necks    of    the 
elephants,  each    putting  his    legs  behind    the   two    great 


■ 

H 

^F^^   '^^'^^M^^^l 

H 

^S^^                  -"^     ^•'m.^U'^X^     ■M^''*^I^^^B 

1 

Bt^^iji 

^^^^^^^^^H^^^^^H^I^H 

L 

"  We  climb  up  step  by  step  " 

flapping  ears.  They  tell  us  to  hold  tight  to  the  framework 
of  the  saddle,  and  then  give  the  signal  to  rise.  They  do 
this  by  prodding  the  head  or  pulling  at  the  ears  of  the 
elephant  with  steel  hooks.  The  beast  understands.  He 
gives  a  grunt,  and  then  rises  slowly,  swaying  a  little,  so 
that  we  have  all  we  can  do  to  hold  on. 

Now  we  are  high  in  the  air,  moving  along  through  the 


THE  NATIVE   STATES  OF  INDIA  293 

Streets.  We  are  as  high  up  as  the  roof  of  a  cottage,  and  the 
rajah's  servants,  who  have  been  ordered  to  accompany 
us,  seem  far  down  as  they  trot  along  on  each  side.  The 
elephants  go  slowly,  but  their  motion  is  a  swaying  one, 
and  we  bend  from  one  side  to  the  other,  having  sensations 
much  the  same  as  when  on  a  boat  gently  tossed  by  the 
waves.  We  are  almost  seasick  at  first,  but  this  soon  passes 
off,  and  we  begin  to  enjoy  our  strange  ride.  We  go  out 
of  the  city,  and  skirt  the  sides  of  the  mountains  near  by. 

Our  road  leads  over  the  hills  through  the  wilds.  We  are 
now  far  out  in  the  country,  but  nothing  we  meet  seems  to 
fear  us.  The  Hindus  are  kind  to  wild  animals,  and  all 
things  having  life  are  respected  by  them.  We  pass  through 
woods  where  monkeys  are  jumping  from  tree  to  tree, 
or  sitting  and  chattering  at  us  out  of  the  branches  as  we 
ride  by.  Now  and  then  one  hops  across  the  road  in 
front  of  our  elephants,  frightening  them  so  that  they  jump 
backward,  and  almost  throw  us  to  the  ground.  We  see 
wild  peacocks  walking  unconcerned  on  the  roadway.  They 
spread  out  their  gorgeous  tails  to  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and 
brush  the  ground  with  their  wings  like  so  many  huge 
turkey  gobblers.  Along  the  slopes  of  the  mountains  we 
meet  droves  of  wild  hogs ;  and  not  far  from  Jaipur  skirt 
a  lake  on  the  banks  of  which  a  half-dozen  black  crocodiles 
look  Hke  great  logs,  as  they  He  asleep  in  the  sun. 

The  tame  animals  we  see  on  the  roadway  are  quite  as 
strange  as  the  wild  ones  of  the  woods.  We  go  by  droves 
of  little  donkeys  so  loaded  with  bags  and  baskets  that 
only  their  legs  show.  Indeed,  the  loads  seem  to  be  walking 
off  by  themselves.  The  donkeys  are  no  bigger  than  New- 
foundland dogs.  Their  dark-skinned  drivers  yell  at  them 
in  Hindustani  as  they  move  slowly  onward,  without  either 
bridle  or  rein. 

CARP.  ASIA  —  18 


294  THE  NATIVE^  STATES  OF  INDIA 

Here  comes  a  stage  hauled  by  a  camel.  It  is  filled  with 
black-faced  passengers  on  their  way  to  Jaipur  to  trade. 
We  pass  other  camels  ridden  by  men,  women,  and  boys, 
who  with  inquiring  eyes  stare  at  us,  as  we  go  by,  high  up 
on  our  elephants.  Some  of  the  camel  riders  are  by  no  means 
polite,  as  I  have  learned  by  a  shabby  trick  which  one  of 
them  played  upon  me  during  a  former  ride  which  I  took 
on  an  elephant.  We  had  gone  several  miles  from  Jaipur, 
and  my  elephant  was  rolling  along  on  the  trot.  It  was 
hot,  and  the  flies  swarmed  about  us  in  thousands.  They 
half  covered  the  elephant  and  so  attacked  my  face  that  I 
had  to  use  one  hand  for  fanning,  while  I  held  on  tight  to 
the  saddle  with  the  other. 

While  so  engaged,  a  long,  black-skinned  Hindu  came  by 
on  a  camel.  He  also  was  tormented  by  flies,  having  so 
many  that  they  made  his  white  gown  look  black,  and 
fairly  covered  the  skin  of  his  beast.  As  he  drew  near  me, 
he  took  his  whip  and  gave  the  camel  a  cut.  The  animal 
ran,  and  as  he  passed,  the  Hindu  unwound  his  long  white 
turban  and  swept  it  back  and  forth  on  both  sides  of  the 
camel.  Thereupon,  the  flies  left  him,  and  attacked  me  and 
the  elephant,  while  he  trotted  ahead,  flyless. 

We  continue  our  ride  on  the  elephants  to  Ambir,  an 
ancient  but  now  ruined  capital  of  the  State  of  Jaipur.  Its' 
palaces  are  deserted  and  its  gardens  are  overgrown  with 
luxuriant  weeds.  We  dismount  from  our  great  beasts,  and 
wander  about  through  buildings  of  marble,  exquisitely 
carved,  visit  the  prisons  once  used  by  the  rajahs,  and  stay 
awhile  in  a  temple  to  watch  some  Hindus  sacrificing  a  black 
goat  to  Kali,  their  terrible  goddess.  After  this  we  have 
lunch  and  return  to  Jaipur.  We  are  tired  by  the  time  we 
reach  our  hotel ;  and  when  our  elephants  kneel  we  are  glad 
to  crawl  down  the  ladders,  and  go  off  to  bed. 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE   HIMALAYA   MOUNTAINS      295 


40.  ABOVE  THE  CLOUDS;  OR,  NATURE  AND 
MAN  IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  HIMALAYA 
MOUNTAINS 

WE  shall  now  leave  the  hot  lowlands  of  India  for  a 
trip  among  the  Himalayas.  The  word  "  Himalaya  " 
means  "the  abode  of  snow"  and  the  tops  of  these  moun- 
tains are  crowned  with  perpetual  frost.  They  are  the 
highest  of  all  mountains,  and  the  tallest  of  their  peaks  have 
never  been  reached  by  man.  That  of  Mount  Everest  is  farther 
above  sea  level  than  any  other  place  upon  earth.  It  is  more 
than  twenty- nine  thousand  feet  high  ;  over  twice  as  high  as 
Fujiyama,  the  sacred  snow-capped  mountain  of  Japan,  and 
more  than  a  mile  above  the  altitude  of  Aconcagua,  the 
tallest  of  the  Andes.  It  is  more  than  nine  thousand  feet 
above  the  height  of  Mount  McKinley,  the  highest  peak 
on  the  North  American  continent,  and  more  than  two  miles 
higher  than  Mount  Blanc,  the  tallest  of  the  Alps. 

The  Himalayas  have  scores  of  peaks,  each  of  which  has 
an  altitude  far  greater  than  Mount  Blanc,  and  at  least  forty 
which  rise  more  than  one  mile  higher  than  that  famous 
monarch  of  the  Alps.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that  you  could 
drop  the  whole  Alpine  range  into  some  of  the  valleys  of 
the  Himalayas,  and  at  a  distance  of  ten  miles  there  would 
be  no  perceptible  change  in  the  scenery. 

We  have  read  much  about  the  glaciers  of  Switzerland. 
The  Himalayas  have  moving  fields  of  solid  ice  from  thirty 
to  sixty  miles  in  length,  and  one  of  them,  thirty-three  miles 
long,  lies  between  two  mountains,  each  of  which  is  more 
than  five  miles  in  height. 

The  Himalaya  Mountains  and  the  Hindu  Kush,  which  is 
the  name  of  the  same  chain  farther  west,  extend  in  the 


IN  THE   HEART   OF  THE   HIMALAYA    MOUNTAINS      297 

shape  of  a  double  wall,  upholding  a  wide,  irregular  trough 
or  valley,  clear  along  the  northern  boundary  of  Hindustan. 
The  southern  side  of  this  wall  rises  steeply  from  the  plains 
to  a  height  of  almost  four  miles,  and  the  average  width  of 
the  whole  is  about  as  great  as  the  distance  between  New 
York  and  Washington,  while  its  length  is  equal  almost  to 
the  distance  between  New  York  and  Denver. 

It  is  this  mighty  wall  and  its  location  which  make  these 
mountains  the  Father  of  India.  This  wall  is  intensely  cold, 
and  as  the  warm  winds,  loaded  with  the  moisture  of  the 
Indian  Ocean,  strike  against  it,  the  moisture  condenses 
and  falls  as  rain,  creating  the  great  rivers  which  water 
and  feed  the  vast  plains  below.  There  is  no  place 
upon  earth  which  has  a  heavier  rainfall  than  some  parts  of 
the  Himalayas.  In  several  places  forty  or  fifty  feet  of 
water  fall  every  twelve  months. 

The  great  plain  of  India,  which  is  so  level  that  one  can 
travel  upon  it  from  one  side  of  Hindustan  to  the  other  with- 
out seeing  a  hill,  is  composed  of  the  earth  washings  brought 
down  by  these  rivers,  so  that  the  Himalayas  have  really 
built  up  the  country.  The  rivers  are  engaged  in  a  similar 
work  now.  At  certain  times  of  the  year,  the  Indus,  the 
Brahmaputra,  and  the  Ganges  are  loaded  with  silt,  which 
by  the  irrigating  canals  is  spread  over  lands,  making  them 
produce  as  abundantly  as  the  valley  of  the  Nile  which  is 
coated  with  a  somewhat  similar  soil  brought  down  from  the 
mountains  of  Abyssinia. 

The  scenery  of  these  mountains  is  unlike  that  of  the 
Rockies,  the  Andes,  or  the  Alps.  The  Himalayas  lie  almost 
on  the  edge  of  the  tropics,  and  the  moisture,  rising  from 
the  plains  and  swept  in  by  the  winds  from  the  Indian 
Ocean,  gives  them  a  thousand  clouds  where  the  Alps  have 
one.     As  we  travel  over  them,  or  climb  about  their  rocky 


(298) 


In  the  Himalayas. 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE   HIMALAYA   MOUNTAINS      299 


recesses,  we  see  masses  of  vapor  of  all  sizes  and  shapes 
chasing  each  other  over  the  hills.  At  a  distance  of  two 
miles  above  the  sea,  the  clouds  crawl  to  our  very  feet  up  the 
steep  sides  of  the  valleys.  They  wrap  themselves  around 
us  ;  and  for  a  few  moments  the  mist  is  so  thick  that  we 
cannot  see  the  heads  of  the  horses  upon  which  we  are  rid- 
ing. A  moment  later  it  is  quite  clear.  The  clouds  have 
passed  onward,  and  are 
losing  themselves  among 
the  snows  higher  up. 

During  our  travels  in 
the  Himalayas  we  fre- 
quently have  clouds  both 
above  and  below  us. 
Here  they  nestle  in  the 
hollows  in  the  sides  of 
the  mountains,  looking 
almost  like  men  who  have 
sat  down  for  a  rest. 
There  they  appear  to 
have  taken  the  forms  of 
beasts,  and  in  single  file 
race  through  the  air.  In 
the  morning,  the  sun 
gilds  the  clouds  so  that 
they  become  masses  of 
fire;  and  at  night  the  moon  turns  them  to  odd  creatures  of 
silver  and  gold.  At  daybreak  the  valleys  are  filled  with 
mist,  and  we  seem  to  be  standing  above  an  ocean  of  ice. 
As  we  look,  the  sun  rises.  It  kisses  the  peaks,  and  the  snow 
shines  forth  in  all  the  colors  and  tints  of  the  rainbow. 

The  place  where  we  shall  visit  these  wonderful  mountains 
is  at  Darjiling  (dar-je'ling),  a  large  village  situated  about  a 


Three  Little  Girls  of  Darjiling, 


300      IN  THE  HEART  OF  THE  HIMALAYA  MOUNTAINS 


mile  and  a  half  above  the  level  of  the  sea  and  under  some 
of  the  highest  of  the  Himalaya  peaks.  The  cUmate  there 
is  cold,  although  it  is  not  very  far  north  of  Calcutta,  from 
where  we  start  for  the  hills.  We  ride  over  the  tropical 
plains  on  the  railroad,  and,  as  the  land  rises,  dash  into  jun- 
gles containing  great  thickets  of  bamboos  and  hundreds  of 
banyan  trees,  which  send  scores  of  sprouts  down  from  their 
limbs  into  the  earth,  and  make  the  jungle  almost  impene- 
trable.    There  are  thousands  of  curious  plants,  poisonous 

vines,  and  great  trees 
forming  a  vegetation  so 
thick  that  we  can  see 
only  a  few  steps  from 
the  train  through  the 
green.  These  jungles 
are  the  home  of  the  tiger ; 
and  as  we  pass  through 
them  we  may  perhaps 
see  the  bright  eyes  of  this 
fierce  beast  staring  out 
of  the  darkness. 

At  the  foot  of  the 
mountains  we  take  a  little  narrow-gauge  railroad  that  car- 
ries us  up  to  Darjiling.  Its  track  is  only  two  feet  wide,  and 
it  curves  in  and  out  among  the  trees  like  a  snake.  Our 
motive  power  is  a  small  steam  engine  which  takes  us  up- 
ward more  than  a  thousand  feet  every  hour.  There  are  a 
dozen  horseshoe  curves  to  the  mile.  There  are  numerous 
loops,  and  we  cross  our  track  again  and  again  in  making 
the  gradual  slope  which  will  permit  of  our  being  moved 
farther  on  up  into  the  clouds.  At  times  we  skirt  precipices 
covered  with  green,  down  which,  out  of  the  car  windows, 
we  can  look  for  a  thousand  feet ;  and  we  climb  along  the 


"  Our  motive  power 


IN  THE   HEART  OF  THE   HIMALAYA   MOUNTAINS       30 1 

sides  of  the  mountains,  above  valleys  that  fade  away  into 
the  broad  plains  of  Bengal. 

We  soon  leave  the  jungle  and  enter  a  region  of  huge 
forest  trees,  some  of  which  are  two  hundred  feet  high. 
They  are  clothed  with  a  luxuriant  growth  of  moss  and  ferns; 
and  orchids  of  many  beautiful  colors  and  shapes  are  fas- 
tened to  their  trunks  or  hang  down  from  their  branches. 
Farther  on  we  observe  the  tree  fern,  whose  tall,  round 
trunk  is  from  ten  to  twenty  feet  long,  with  immense  fern 
leaves  jutting  out  at  the  top  like  the  fronds  of  a  palm. 

The  air  is  full  of  moisture,  and  the  vegetation,  though 
not  so  thick  as  in  the  jungle  below,  is  luxuriant.  As  we 
rise  higher  still,  the  color  of  the  moss  on  the  trees  changes 
from  green  to  frosted  silver.  It  is  now  somewhat  like  the 
Spanish  moss  of  our  southern  states.  It  covers  their  Hmbs 
like  a  coat,  and  hangs  from  their  branches  in  clusters,  turn- 
ing the  woods  into  a  forest  of  green  dusted  with  silver. 

At  about  a  mile  above  the  plains  it  is  so  much  cooler 
that  trees  similar  to  those  of  our  American  mountains  are 
growing.  In  the  villages  roses  are  blooming,  and  on  the 
sides  of  the  hills  are  immense  tea  gardens,  much  like  some 
we  saw  in  Japan. 

The  tea  plant  grows  wild  in  parts  of  the  Himalayas. 
Its  natural  home  is  said  to  be  Assam,  one  of  the  north- 
eastern provinces  of  India,  where  travelers  say  it  some- 
times reaches  the  size  of  a  large  tree.  It  is  supposed  that 
the  plant  was  taken  from  there  into  China,  from  where  it 
was  carried  farther  on  to  Japan. 

Until  within  a  few  years  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the 
tea  of  commerce  was  produced  in  China  and  Japan.  The 
British,  however,  have  established  tea  plantations  in  India, 
and  they  are  now  raising  vast  crops  of  excellent  leaves. 
The  tea  they  produce  is  shipped  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 


302      IN  THE   HEART  OF  THE   HIMALAYA  MOUNTAINS 


and  fully  one  third  of  all  the  tea  sent  to  Europe  and  the 
United  States  is  raised  here.  Moreover,  a  great  deal  of 
tea  is  grown  in  Ceylon,  so  that  India  may  now  be  called 
the  most  productive  of  all  the  tea  countries.  The  United 
States  uses  millions  of  pounds  of  Indian  teas,  and  even 
now,  while  in  imagination  we  are  away  out  here  in  the  tea 
fields,  our  parents  may  be  drinking  an  infusion  made  from 

the  leaves  which  last 
year  grew  on  these  very 
bushes. 

We  pass  a  number  of 
villages  on  our  way  up 
the  mountains,  and  meet 
curious  people  at  each 
stop  of  the  train.  Among 
them  are  the  Leptchas, 
natives  with  faces  not  un- 
like those  of  our  Indians. 
They  are  short  and  broad- 
chested,  with  big  calves 
and  long  arms.  They 
have  copper-colored 
skins  and  thick,  coal- 
black  hair,  which  hangs  in  long  plaits  or  braids  down  their 
backs.  Both  sexes  wear  robes  of  striped,  coarse  cotton 
cloth  which  fall  below  their  knees,  leaving  their  arms  free. 
During  the  rainy  season,  the  Leptchas  put  on  high 
boots  of  deerskin  as  a  protection  from  the  terrible  leeches 
that  are  then  found  in  the  mountains.  These  leeches  are 
bloodsuckers,  and  they  will  fasten  themselves  to  any  part 
of  your  body.  They  have  been  known  to  live  for  days  in 
the  jaws,  nostrils,  and  stomachs  of  human  beings,  causing 
dreadful  suffering  and  death. 


Tea  Plant. 


IN  THE   HEART   OF  THE   HIMALAYA   MOUNTAINS      303 

Like  the  women  of  the  other  tribes  of  the  Himalaya 
Mountains,  the  Leptchas  are  fond  of  ornaments  of  all 
kinds.  We  see  girls  who  have  bracelets  of  silver  covering 
their  arms  from  their  wrists  to  the  elbows.  Some  have 
heavy  rings  of  gold  and  silver  about  their  ankles,  and  flat 
pieces  of  gold  tied  to  their  ears.  Not  a  few  have  jeweled 
buttons  fastened  in  the  flesh  of  their  noses. 


Leptchas. 

The  Bhutanese,  another  hill  tribe,  look  not  unlike  the 
Leptchas,  and  dress  much  the  same,  except  that  they  paint 
their  faces  with  a  sort  of  brown  varnish.  Nearly  every 
Bhutanese  woman  wears  on  her  person  the  greater  part 
of  her  fortune.  She  may  have  beads  of  coral  and  turquoise 
bound  round  her  head,  and  earrings  of  gold  so  heavy  that 
they  pull  down  the  lobes  of  her  ears.     Even  the  poorest 


304      IN  THE   HEART   OF  THE   HIMALAYA   MOUNTAINS 


have  jewelry  of   brass  or  stone  if  they  cannot  afford  silver 
and  gold. 

The  Himalayan  women  are  strong.  We  see  them  digging 
in  the  fields  and  working  like  men.  Little  girls  go  'along 
with  big  baskets  tied  to  their  backs,  and  the  older  women 

thus  carry  loads  of  grain  and 
other  things,  even  to  the  dirt 
used  in  fixing  the  roads. 
Sometimes  a  mother  has 
her  baby  tied  to  her  back. 
Arriving  at  Darjiling,  we 
are  met  at  the  station  by 
rosy-cheeked  girls  who  offer 
to  take  our  baggage  up  to 
the  hotel.  We  hesitate  to 
let  girls  act  as  our  beasts  of 
burden,  but  finally  consent, 
whereupon  each  maiden 
picks  up  a  trunk  weighing 
perhaps  two  hundred  pounds 
and  trots  off  with  it  up  the 
hill.  The  charge  for  the 
load  is  an  amount  equal  to 
about  five  cents  of  our  money. 
The  men  of  the  Himalayas 
are  as  strong  as  the  women ; 
although  they  work  less.  They  carry  great  knives  in  their 
belts  and  are  very  fierce-looking. 

We  find  good  hotels  at  Darjiling.  It  is  a  summer  re- 
sort surrounded  by  the  highest  of  the  Himalaya  Moun- 
tains, and  just  far  enough  up  their  slopes  to  have  a 
delightful  climate,  while  the  plains  below  are  sweltering  in 
an  almost  tropical  heat.     The  place,  therefore,  has  many 


'*  Sometimes  a  mother  has  her  baby 
tied  to  her  back." 


IN    THE   HEART  OF  THE   HIMALAYA   MOUNTAINS      305 

mountain  homes  of  the  richer  officials  and  foreign  business 
men  who  live  in  the  lowlands.  There  are  beautiful  villas 
and  bungalows  with  wide  porches  about  them,  and  also 
boarding  houses  and  hotels. 

Another  place  much  frequented  by  the  British  is  Simla, 
situated  in  the  Himalayas  hundreds  of  miles  farther  west. 
It  is  to  Simla  that  the  Viceroy  and  the  chief  officials  go  in 
the  hot  season,  and  for  this  reason  it  is  sometimes  called 
the  summer  capital  of  India.  It  is  a  gay  city  during  the 
summer,  but  not  so  in  winter,  for  then  it  is  cold,  and  often 
covered  with  snow. 

During  our  stay  at  Darjiling  we  journey  about  through 
the  mountains.  We  ride  out  before  day  to  Tiger  Hill  -to 
watch  the  sun  rise  on  Mount  Everest,  and  make  excursions 
to  visit  the  tea  plantations  near  by.  We  go  to  the  market, 
in  the  center  of  the  town,  to  purchase  curios  of  the  natives 
who  come  from  long  distances  into  this  city  to  trade. 
The  men  are  fierce-looking  fellows,  each  of  whom  carries  a 
great  knife  in  his  belt.  We  buy  odd  knives  and  prayer 
wheels,  and  also  rings  and  necklaces  set  with  turquoise 
and  other  half-precious  stones. 

In  our  excursions  we  now  and  then  stop  at  a  village. 
The  mountaineers  live  in  low  huts  made  of  mud  and 
stone,  with  roofs  of  straw  thatch.  The  huts  are  not  much 
larger  than  dry-goods  boxes,  and  but  few  of  them  have 
gardens  or  yards.  We  see  the  women  cooking  out  of  doors 
and  watch  them  at  their  meals,  observing  that  all  eat  with 
their  fingers.  Entering  the  huts,  we  find  but  httle  furni- 
ture except  boxes  and  a  few  pots  and  pans.  The  moun- 
taineers are  uncivilized.  They  are  mostly  worshipers  of 
Buddha,  and  are  in  many  ways  like  the  Tibetans,  the 
strange  people  whom  we  are  to  visit  in  the  next  stage  of 
our  travels. 


306 


TIBET  AND  THE  TIBETANS 


41.     TIBET   AND   THE   TIBETANS 


TIBET  is  the  most  elevated  inhabited  region  on  earth. 
It  is  so  high  up  in  the  air  that  the  Hindus  call  it  the 
Roof  of  the  World.  It  consists  of  an  immense  plateau 
about  one  eighth  the  size  of  the  United  States,  which  is 
upheld  between  the  Himalayas  at  the  south  and  other  high 

mountains  at  the  north, 
the  greater  part  of  it  being 
more  than  two  miles 
above  the  level  of  the  sea. 
This  lofty  table-land  is 
crossed  by  mountains, 
^  and  it  has  some  parts 
which  are  more  than  three 
miles  in  height.  It  has 
both  fresh- water  and  salt- 
water lakes.  The  moun- 
tains about  it  are  the 
sources  of  the  Mekong, 
Hoang,  and  Yangtze,  and 
also  of  the  Brahmaputra  and  the  Indus.  The  country 
is  stony  and  rough,  and  a  great  part  of  it  is  as  arid  and 
sterile  as  the  Desert  of  Gobi,  which  Ues  farther  north.  As 
the  warm  winds  of  the  Indian  Ocean  blow  against  the  high, 
cold  wall  of  the  Himalayas,  they  are  laden  with  moisture ; 
but  the  cold  condenses  this  and  it  falls  as  rain  or  snow,  so 
that  when  the  winds  blow  north  of  the  mountains  they  are 
comparatively  dry. 

Indeed,  Tibet  is,  in  places,  almost  as  dry  as  the  Sahara, 
although  its  mountains  are  covered  with  snow  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  year.     In  the  short  summer,  the  val- 


A  Tibetan  Chief. 


TIBET  AND   THE  TIBETANS  307 

leys  and  plains  are  hot ;  and,  as  the  winter  comes  on,  the 
weather  grows  so  dry  that  the  leaves  on  the  trees  wither, 
and  may  be  ground  to  powder  between  the  fingers.  Planks 
and  beams  crack  and  break,  and  the  people  sometimes 
cover  the  woodwork  of  their  houses  with  coarse  cloth  to 
preserve  them.  The  dryness  of  the  air  is  such  that  salt  is 
not  needed  for  the  keeping  of  food.  Fresh  meat  can  be 
left  out  of  doors  without  spoiling.  The  air  sucks  up  the 
juices,  and  the  meat  can  be  powdered  like  bread.  As  soon 
as  a  sheep  is  killed,  it  is  skinned,  cleaned,  and  hung  up  out 
of  doors.  It  quickly  becomes  a  dry,  stiffened  mass,  after 
which  it  may  be  kept  a  long  time. 

But  what  kinds  of  animals  do  they  have  on  this  high, 
cold  plateau  ?  There  are  donkeys,  sheep,  goats,  and  yaks. 
There  are  also  horses  and  ponies,  and  wild  asses,  wild 
sheep,  and  antelopes.  One  species  of  antelope,  known  as 
the  chiru,  has  a  pair  of  long,  slender  horns  which  extend 
almost  straight  upward  from  the  crown  of  the  head  in 
front  of  the  ears.  There  is  also  a  monkey,  which  has  a 
snub  nose  and  long,  thick,  silky  hair.  There  are  yaks, 
wild  and  tame.  The  yak  is  sure-footed  and  strong,  and  it 
is  sometimes  used  for  carrying  burdens  over  the  moun- 
tains. It  is  about  as  large  as  a  good-sized  cow,  and  in 
some  respects  looks  like  one.  It  has  horns  and  hoofs,  and 
its  body  is  covered  with  a  thick  coat  of  hair  which  in 
places  is  several  inches  long.  The  yak's  tail  is  more  like 
that  of  a  horse,  arid  is  sometimes  three  feet  in  length.  It 
has  a  hump  upon  its  shoulder,  which  is  composed  largely 
of  fat. 

Another  Tibetan  beast  is  the  musk  deer,  from  which 
comes  the  scent  called  musk.  This  animal  is  smaller 
than  any  deer  we  have  in  America.  The  musk  is  found 
in  a  little  ball  of  fat,  inclosed  in  a  sac  beneath  the  skin  of 


TIBET  AND  THE  TIBETANS 


309 


the  abdomen.  The  fat  is  of  a  dark-brown  chocolate  color ; 
and  it  looks  much  like  moist  gingerbread.  When  the  deer 
is  killed,  the  fat  is  taken  out  and  dried.  It  is  then  shipped 
over  the  mountains  to  India  or  Ghina,  and  thence  to  the 
United  States  or  Europe,  where  it  forms  the  basis  of  many 
perfumes. 

The  people  of  Tibet  number  more  than  six  millions. 
They  are  mostly  stock  breeders  and  farmers.  They  have 
irrigated  patches  in  the  val- 
leys and  raise  hardy  grains. 
They  have  mines  of  gold, 
salt,  and  borax ;  and  also 
some  of  the  finest  turquoises 
known  to  the  world. 

The  Tibetans  are  exclu- 
sive, and  they  do  not  like  to 
have  foreigners  come  to  their 
country.  For  centuries  they 
kept  all  strangers  out,  and  it 
was  only  a  few  years  ago  that 
the  British  forced  their  way 
into  the  capital,  the  city  of 
Lassa,  and  made  a  treaty 
with  them  by  which  trade 
could  be  carried  on.  They 
acknowledge  themselves  to  be  subject  to  China,  although 
for  the  most  part  they  are  ruled  by  their  lamas  or  priests, 
of  whom  more  is  told  farther  on  in  this  chapter. 

These  people  are  of  the  MongoHan  race,  and  they  have 
their  own  language.  They  look  much  like  our  Indians, 
having  high  cheek  bones  and  dark  yellow  or  copper-col- 
ored complexions.  The  men  have  no  beards  to  speak  of, 
and  all  carry  pincers  to  pull  the  hairs  out  of  their  faces. 

CARP.  ASIA — 19 


Tibetan  Coat. 


3IO 


TIBET  AND   THE  TIBETANS 


The  Tibetans  are  divided  into  tribes,  each  of  which  has 
its  own  customs,  although  all  dress  much  alike.  They  have 
gowns  which  reach  from  the  neck  almost  to  the  ankles, 
and  are  tied  in  at  the  waist  with  girdles  of  wool.  In  the 
winter  they  wear  either  sheepskins  with  the  wool  turned 
inward,  or  so  many  furs  that  it  is  hard  to  tell  where  the 
furs  end  and  the  bodies  begin.  The  summer  clothing  con- 
sists of  native  woolen  cloth.     The  Tibetans  are  fond   of 


"  Both  men  and  women  wear  boots  of  red  or  yellow  leather  — 


bright  colors,  and  especially  of  reds,  purples,  and  blues. 
Both  men  and  women  wear  boots  made  of  red  or  yellow 
leather,  held  up  by  garters  attached  to  their  tops. 

In  northern  Tibet  the  people  have  caps  of  cloth  or  felt 
trimmed  with  lambskin  which  come  to  a  point  at  the  crown. 
These  caps  are  sometimes  covered  with  silk,  and  they  may 
be  green,  red,  or  blue.  In  some  sections  of  the  country 
they  have  high  hats  shaped  much  like  that  of  a  Korean 
gentleman,  but  with  a  broader  brim  and  a  larger  crown. 
The  brim  is  often  faced  with  red  silk.  The  hat  is  tied  on 
by  a  string  around  the  throat. 


TIBET  AND  THE  TIBETANS  31I 

Both  men  and  women  are  fond  of  jewelry.  The  men 
frequently  wear,  in  the  left  ear,  an  earring  set  with  pearls 
and  turquoises  and  often  two  inches  long.  The  women 
have  chains  of  gold,  silver,  and  copper  about  their  necks. 
They  also  wear  earrings,  some  of  which  are  so  heavy  that 
a  little  strap  is  tied  to  the  ring  and  passed  over  the  top  of 
the  ear  to  take  the  weight  from  the  lobe.  They  adorn 
their  hair  with  jeweled  trinkets, 
plaiting  gold,  silver,  amber,  and 
coral  in  with  their  braids. 

And  how  do  the  Tibetans  live  ? 

Some  of  them  have  tents  made 
of  the  coarse  hair  of  the  yak,  and 
others  rude  homes  of  wood  or 
stone,  the  latter  being  laid  up  in  ,      ,       , .  ,  , 

.  — they  have  high  hats  —  " 

clay  mortar.     Most  of  the  people 

live  in  villages.     There  are  only  one  or  two  towns  which 

might  be  called  cities,  the  chief  being  Lassa,  the  capital. 

In  the  larger  places  we  may  find  houses  of  three  stories, 
the  homes  of  the  rich.  They  are  built  around  a  court,  and 
each  of  them  may  contain  several  rooms.  The  poor  man's 
house  is  seldom  of  more  than  two  stories,  with  a  courtyard 
in  front  or  behind  it.  The  ground  floor  is  sometimes  used 
as  a  stable.  There  are  very  few  windows  in  the  houses, 
except  holes  in  the  walls,  which  may  perhaps  be  covered 
with  oiled  paper.  Fireplaces  are  used  for  cooking,  but 
there  are  no  chimneys,  and  the  smoke  must  get  out  as  it 
can.  The  principal  fuel  is  dried  yak  manure ;  and  this  is 
so  scarce  that  the  cooking  fires  are  expected  to  keep  the 
house  warm. 

The  Tibetans  live  largely  upon  barley,  wheat,  beans, 
and  peas,  which  they  crush  and  grind  into  a  meal  and 
cook  as  a  mush  or  in  cakes.     They  are  fond  of  raw  meat. 


TIBET  AND  THE  TIBETANS 


313 


and  seldom  serve  their  meats  more  than  half  cooked.  They 
eat  the  flesh  of  yaks,  camels,  and  hogs ;  and,  like  most 
people  of  cold  climates,  are  especially  fond  of 
fats.  A  favorite  dish  is  a  soup  of  brick  tea,  but- 
ter and  water,  cooked  into  a  thick,  fatty  broth. 
After  this  mixture  has  been  taken  from  the  fire, 
some  barley  meal  is  added,  and  it  is  churned  in 
a  little  tea  churn.  The  broth,  which  has  now 
become  a  thick  mush,  is  ladled  out  in  bowls,  and 
the  people  knead  it  into  balls  with  their  fingers 
before  eating  it.  Both  men  and  women  are  fond 
of  tobacco,  which  they  carry  about  in  horn  boxes 
much  like  the  powderhorns  of  our  colonial  days. 
All  the  men  smoke,  and  the  priests  and  women 
take  snuff. 

These  people  are  very  religious.  They  are 
Buddhists,  and  are  largely  ruled  by  the  Buddhist  -pea  Chum. 
priests  or  lamas,  of  whom  the  land  has  many 
thousands.  At  the  head  of  the  priesthood  is  the  Grand 
Lama,  who  dwells  in  the  Potala,  a  temple  just  outside  Lassa. 
He  is  usually  a  boy  who  is  supposed  to  have 
the  spirit  of  Buddha  within  him. 

The  Tibetans  spend  a  great  deal  of  their 
time  in  praying  to  Buddha,  and  they  have 
machines  of  various  kinds  to  multiply  their 
prayers.  One  of  these  is  the  prayer  wheel, 
a  cylindrical  tin  or  brass  box  which  whirls 
round  a  stick  or  pin  through  its  center.  A 
number  of  prayers  are  written  upon  a  strip  of 

paper,  and  this  is  wrapped  around  the  stick 
Prayer  Wheel,     f    .      '  ,      ,  ..       ,  ,       ,  .   ,    , 

mside  the  box.  As  the  man  rubs  the  stick  be- 
tween his  palms,  the  paper  whirls  and  he  believes  that  at 
every  turn  of  the  wheel  he  will  have  the  credit  of  making 


314  TIBET  AND  THE  TIBETANS 

as  many  prayers  as  there  are  on  the  paper.  Large  prayer 
wheels  are  often  turned  by  the  wind,  and  sometimes  by 
the  waters  of  a  creek  or  brook.  In  such  cases  one  has 
to  only  pull  out  a  peg,  and  the  wind  or  water  prays  for  him, 
wiping  away  sin  after  sin,  so  the  Tibetans  think,  as  long 
as  the  water  flows  or  the  wind  continues  to  blow.  Nearly 
all  education  in  Tibet  is  confined  to  the  priesthood,  and 
the  Tibetan  books  are  almost  altogether  religious  ones. 

Among  the  queer  customs  of  this  country  are  those  re- 
lating to  marriage.  Instead  of  having  several  wives  as  is 
common  in  some  Asiatic  countries,  the  Tibetan  has  only  a 
part  of  one  wife.  When  a  girl  marries,  she  often  becomes 
the  wife  of  all  her  husband's  brothers,  or  she  may  marry 
one  or  two  extra  men,  so  that  she  has  four  or  five  hus- 
bands. In  such  cases  she  is  regarded  as  the  head  of  the 
family,  and  does  most  of  its  labor.  She  cooks,  weaves, 
and  knits,  and  also  works  in  the  fields.  In  the  towns, 
nearly  all  the  shops  are  kept  by  women,  and  woman  is  the 
bread  earner  as  well  as  the  bread  maker.  Nevertheless, 
she  does  not  think  that  her  fate  is  a  hard  one ;  for  a  rich 
Tibetan  lady  of  Lassa  once  said  that  she  pitied  the  women 
of  other  countries  who  were  so  poor  that  each  could  have 
only  one  husband. 

But  before  leaving  we  must  take  a  look  at  the  city  of 
Lassa.  It  is  the  capital  of  Tibet,  and  the  center  of  its 
religion,  government,  and  trade.  The  people  make  pil- 
grimages to  it,  and  until  recently  they  forbade  all  stran- 
gers to  enter  it,  on  penalty  of  losing  their  lives.  It  has 
now  become  more  accessible,  however,  and  we  can  find  out 
how  it  looks.  It  is  not  a  large  city,  containing,  at  best, 
not  more  than  twenty-five  thousand  people.  It  lies  in  a 
plain  called  the  Plain  of  Milk.  But  we  think  it  should  be 
named  the  plain  of  water  and  mud,  for  it  is  surrounded  by 


TIBET   AND   THE  TIBETANS  315 

swamps,  and  is  reached  only  by  a  roadway  built  through 
them.  The  plain  is  about  fifteen  miles  long  and  from  two 
to  five  miles  in  width.  There  are  great  mountains  about 
it,  the  peaks  of  which  even  in  midsummer  are  covered  with 
snow.  As  to  Lassa  itself,  it  is  a  town  of  palaces  and  hovels. 
There  are  many  rude  one-story  and  two-story  houses  of 
stone,  cemented  together  with  clay,  and  larger  ones  of 
granite,  solidly  built.  Some  of  the  homes  of  the  priests 
have  roofs  washed  with  gold. 

About  two  thirds  of  a  mile  from  the  city  of  Lassa  is 
the  Potala,  the  great  temple  home  of  the  Grand  Lama. 
This  is  a  group  of  buildings  which  looks  like  a  fortifica- 
tion. It  stands  upon  a  rocky  hill,  rising  above  it  higher 
than  any  church  steeple.  It  is  nine  hundred  feet  long, 
and  has  enough  rooms  to  house  hundreds  of  the  Grand 
Lama's  servants,  and  about  five  hundred  monks.  The 
Grand  Lama's  home  is  in  the  center  of  the  temple.  He 
is  so  sacred  that  he  is  seldom  seen  by  any  one  but  his 
servants  and  priests,  most  of  whom  get  down  on  their 
knees  when  they  enter  his  presence. 

The  Grand  Lama  rules  by  the  direction  of  advisers  ap- 
pointed by  the  Chinese  government,  of  which  country  Tibet 
is  a  dependency.  There  are  Chinese  soldiers  at  Lassa,  and 
Chinese  officials  at  the  principal  places,  and  we  meet  Chinese 
merchants  and  traders  as  we  go  through  the  country. 

The  chief  foreign  trade  of  Tibet  is  with  China  and 
India.  Goods  are  carried  across  the  mountains  on 
camels  or  yaks,  and  are  sold  at  the  market  towns  upon 
the  frontier.  The  people  import  brick  tea,  cloth,  and 
notions  of  various  kinds.  They  export  wool,  cattle, 
borax,  salt,  and  also  turquoises  and  gold.  So  far  most  of 
the  country  has  not  been  explored,  and  it  may  have  mineral 
riches  of  which  we  know  nothing. 


AFGHANISTAN  317 


42.   AFGHANISTAN 

LEAVING  Tibet,  we  return  to  India,  and  take  a  long 
railroad  ride  across  the  great  plain  to  Lahore,  and 
north  to  Peshawar  (pe-sha'war)  at  the  entrance  to 
the  Khaibar  Pass,  which  leads  into  the  wild  country  of 
Afghanistan  (af-gan-i-stan').  We  have  secured  permits  to 
enter  this  land  from  the  Amir,  its  monarchical  ruler ;  and 
he  has  sent  out  a  company  of  soldiers  to  guard  us  on  the 
way  to  his  capital.  Our  travels  are  through  the  grandest 
of  mountain  scenery.  The  snowy  peaks  seem  even  higher 
than  those  about  Darjiling,  and  many  of  them  are  really 
three  or  four  miles  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  We  climb 
slowly  over  one  awful  pass  after  another,  now  skirting 
precipices  many  hundred  feet  deep,  and  now  crossing 
deserts  of  sand  and  valleys  covered  with  rocks. 

We  see  irrigated  fields  here  and  there,  and  occasionally 
some  patches  of  trees  on  the  mountains.  We  cross  raging 
streams,  go  through  long,  winding  gorges,  and  cHmb  over 
places  so  high  that  we  have  to  frequently  stop  and  rest  on 
account  of  the  thinness  of  the  air. 

At  last  we  come  down  into  a  green  fertile  valley  in 
which  the  many  cultivated  fields  and  orchards  of  fruit  trees 
are  separated  by  a  network  of  ditches  through  which  cool 
water  flows.  We  ride  for  some  miles  in  this  valley  and 
finally  reach  Kabul  (ka'bool),  the  capital  of  Afghanistan. 

Kabul  is  situated  in  the  Hindu  Kush  Range,  on  the 
banks  of  a  river  which  flows  out  of  a  gorge  in  the  moun- 
tains. The  city  is  about  a  thousand  feet  higher  than  Den- 
ver, and  it  has  nearly  the  same  number  of  people.  ,  The 
Afghans  are  mostly  Mohammedans,  and  therefore  their 
houses  are  surrounded  by  walls,  so  that  we  cannot  look  in  as 


AFGHANISTAN  319 

we  walk  through  the  streets.  The  houses  are  usually  of 
only  one  story,  and  the  best  have  many  rooms  connected 
only  by  doors  and  without  halls  or  passages.  They  have 
gardens  about  them,  and  orchards  loaded  with  fruit. 

The  business  part  of  the  city  consists  of  bazaars,  the 
streets  through  which  are  so  roofed  as  to  keep  out  the 
sun.  The  main  roads  run  out  from  these  bazaars  in  four 
directions.  They  are  badly  paved  and  have  no  modern 
improvements. 

During  our  stay  in  the  city  we  meet  many  of  the  peo- 
ple. They  are  of  different  tribes  and  have  very  queer 
costumes.  The  men  wear  turbans  and  gowns,  and  nearly 
every  man  we  see  carries  a  gun  or  a  sword.  There  is  a 
great  difference  of  conditions.  Some  of  the  people  are 
rich  and  powerful  and  others  poor  and  oppressed.  The 
relations  of  the  several  classes  are  similar  to  those  which 
prevailed  in  Europe  during  feudal  times,  and  civilization 
is  more  backward  than  in  India,  China,  or  Japan. 

Afghanistan  is  governed  by  an  absolute  monarch,  who 
is  called  "The  Amir."  He  has  also  another  title  which 
means  **  Light  of  the  Nation  and  Religion."  He  has  an 
army  of  about  one  hundred  thousand  men,  and  could 
make  a  strong  fight  in  case  of  war.  He  rules  by  many 
officials,  having  large  public  offices  here  at  Kabul  where 
we  can  learn  much  about  the  land  and  its  people. 

We  find  that  Afghanistan  is  a  large  country.  It  is 
bigger  than  either  France  or  Germany,  and  it  would 
make  about  six  states  the  size  of  Virginia.  It  is  mostly 
mountainous,  the  great  range  of  the  Hindu  Kush  running 
through  it.  It  has  some  rushing  rivers  and  many  streams, 
some  of  which  go  dry  in  the  summer.  The  only  cultivated 
places  are  in  the  valleys  and  upon  the  foothills,  and  in 
Uttle  nests   in   the   mountains.     Most   of  the   farming   is 


320  AFGHANISTAN 

done  by  irrigation,  and  two  harvests  are  often  reaped  in 
one  year.  The  first  crop  is  sown  in  the  fall,  and  cut  in 
the  summer.  It  consists  of  wheat,  and  barley,  and  some 
peas  and  beans.  The  second  crop  is  sown  at  the  end  of 
the  spring  and  reaped  in  the  autumn.  It  is  mainly  rice, 
millet,  and  Indian  corn. 

Afghanistan  has  numerous  orchards,  and  fruit  is  so 
abundant  that  it  forms  the  principal  food  of  a  large  class 
of  the  people.  We  see  apples,  pears,  almonds,  and 
peaches  sold  in  the  bazaars,  and  also  quinces,  apricots, 
figs,  cherries,  and  grapes.  Quite  a  large  amount  of  pre- 
served fruit  is  exported,  and  much  is  laid  away  for  the 
winter. 

We  are  told  that  the  country  is  rich  in  minerals,  and  that 
it  has  iron,  gold,  copper,  and  lead.  There  are  also  precious 
stones  of  fine  quality.  Only  small  parts  of  the  mountainous 
regions  have  been  prospected,  and  there  are  probably  other 
rich  mineral  deposits  of  which  no  one  knows. 

But  who  are  the  Afghans  ?  They  look  far  different  from 
the  Tibetans,  and  most  of  the  East  Indians.  They  have 
straight  eyes  and  light  brown  complexions;  some  have 
rosy  cheeks,  and  not  a  few  long,  silky  beards,  many  being 
descendants  of  the  same  race  as  our  own.  The  Afghans 
are  of  several  different  tribes,  and  they  number  all  together 
four  or  five  millions,  scattered  here  and  there  in  villages 
and  cities  over  the  country. 

We  ask  what  these  people  do  for  a  living  and  are  told 
that  they  are  chiefly  engaged  in  farming,  fruit  raising,  and 
in  rearing  cattle  and  horses.  They  have  also  camels, 
ponies,  and  donkeys.  A  few  are  employed  in  manufactur- 
ing. They  weave  carpets  and  cloths  of  silk  and  wool,  and 
make  shoes  and  other  things  of  leather.  Their  exports  in- 
clude wool,  silk,  and  tobacco,  and  also  drugs,  spices,  hides, 


PERSIA  321 

cattle,  and  horses.  They  import  cotton  goods,  indigo,  dye- 
stuffs,  sugar  and  tea,  and  also  foreign  wares  of  various 
kinds.  The  trade  of  the  country  amounts  to  six  or  more 
million  dollars  a  year. 

Our  travels  through  Afghanistan  are  on  camels  and 
ponies,  and  we  go  nowhere  without  soldiers  to  guard  us. 
We  see  no  foreigners,  for  the  Amir  does  not  usually  allow 
them  to  come  here,  and  so  far  he  has  prevented  the  building 
of  railroads.  He  has  been  able  to  do  this  largely  because 
of  the  location  of  his  kingdom  between  the  possessions  of 
Russia  and  Great  Britain.  These  two  great  powers  are 
jealous  of  each  other;  and,  in  the  past,  they  have  been  glad 
to  have  a  state  like  Afghanistan  so  situated  that  it  has 
kept  British  India  and  Russian  Turkestan  apart.  For  the 
same  reason  they  have  not  encouraged  the  opening  of 
the  land  to  trade  and  railroads.  This  will  probably  be 
changed  at  some  time  in  the  future,  and  the  railroad 
systems  of  the  Russian  provinces  at  the  north  and  those 
of  India  at  the  south  will  be  connected  by  a  line  across  Af- 
ghanistan. When  this  is  constructed,  one  will  be  able  to 
go  almost  the  whole  way  from  any  part  of  Europe  to  India 
by  rail. 

43.    PERSIA 

WE  are  in  Persia  to-day.  We  have  come  south  through 
Baluchistan  (ba-loo-chi-stan'),  a  dependency  of  India, 
and  then  moved  on  westward.  We  are  now  traveling  along 
upon  camels  over  a  wild  desert  plateau  cut  here  and  there 
by  great  mountains  from  the  snows  of  which  are  fed  rivers 
which  irrigate  little  valleys  and  patches  of  plain.  Now  and 
then  we  pass  a  salt  lake,  and  again  we  may  travel  for  miles 


OCEAN 


PERSIA 


323 


where  the  land  is  as  sandy  and  stony  as  the  Desert  of  Gobi. 
This  is  the  general  character  of  Persia.  It  is  a  high  plateau, 
nearly  level  except  where  the  mountains  cut  through  it.  It 
is  almost  a  desert,  and  were  it  not  for  the  mountains  whose 
cold  air  squeezes  the  water  out  of  the  winds,  it  would  be  al- 
together arid  and  sterile.  The  country  is  large.  From 
east  to  west  it  is  as  long  as  the  distance  from  New  York 


A  Nomad  Family  and  House. 

to  Chicago,  and  from  north  to  south  its  width  is  as  long  as 
from  Boston  to  Cleveland.  Its  area  all  told  is  three  times 
that  of  Germany,  and  equal  to  about  one  sixth  of  the  whole 
of  our  Union.  Persia  would  make  fifteen  Ohios  or  Ken- 
tuckys  or  Virginias,  or  more  than  ten  states  the  size  of 
Iowa,  Illinois,  or  Wisconsin.  Nevertheless,  it  has  only  fif- 
teen people  to  the  square  mile,  or  about  nine  or  ten  millions 
in  all. 


324  PERSIA 

The  Persians  are  not  unlike  the  Afghans.  They  have 
light  brown  or  yellow  faces,  straight  eyes,  and  dark  hair. 
Most  of  the  men  are  bearded,  and  have  their  heads  shaved. 
They  wear  great  cone-shaped  caps  or  turbans,  and  long 
gowns  which  are  tied  in  at  the  waist  and  fall  almost  to  the 
feet.  Under  their  gowns  they  have  on  very  full  pantaloons. 
In  the  winter  many  wear  furs. 

As  we  move  slowly  along  through  the  country,  we  see 
comparatively  few  women.  These  people  are  Mohamme- 
dans, whose  women  are  not  supposed  to  be  seen  by  other 
men  than  their  husbands.  The  women  live  to  a  large  extent 
in  the  back  rooms  of  the  houses,  and  when  they  come  out, 
they  are  clad  from  top  to  toe  in  a  long  black  or  blue  gown 
with  a  strip  of  white  cloth  at  the  front.  This  strip  is  fas- 
tened on  around  the  forehead  and  extends  over  the  gown 
almost  to  the  ground.^  In  the  top  of  it,  just  in  front  of  the 
eyes,  is  a  window  of  fine  lace  through  which  the  wearer  can 
see  as  she  walks  along  the  street. 

Indoors,  the  women  wear  divided  skirts  which  reach  to 
their  knees  and  loose-fitting  sacks  with  long  sleeves. 
They  always  have  their  own  part  of  the  house,  for  it  is  a 
disgrace  for  them  to  meet  any  other  men  than  those  of 
their  own  famiHes.  For  thisL  reason,  whenever  a  man  is 
about  to  enter  the  home  of  a  friend,  he  is  expected  to  stop 
at  the  gate  and  shout  out  some  such  words  as  "  Woman 
away  "  in  order  to  give  the  women  a  chance  to  fly  to  their 
own  quarters  before  he  appears. 

A  Persian  does  not  ask  after  the  wife  of  his  friend,  and, 
if  he  should  be  so  impolite  as  to  do  so,  his  host  in  replying 
would  not  refer  to  his  wife  by  name  or  as  his  wife,  but  as 
the  mother  of  his  children.  For  instance,  if  the  Persian's 
name  were  Smith,  and  he  had  a  son  named  John,  he  would 
not  say,  **My  wife  is  well,"  or  "Mrs.  Smith  is  well,"  but. 


PERSIA  325 

"I  thank  you,  little  Johnny's  mother  is  so-so  to-day."  The 
Persian  women  have  but  few  rights.  The  parents  arrange 
all  the  marriages,  and  girls  are  often  married  at  ten  and 
boys  at  sixteen  or  eighteen.  There  are  but  few  bachelors, 
and  not  many  old  maids. 

Most  of  the  Persians  live  in  cities  or  villages.  We  see 
their  towns,  as  we  travel  over  the  country.  The  villages 
are  in  or  near  the  irrigated  lands.  They  are  usually  square, 
consisting  of  dark,  narrow  streets,  lined  with  houses,  each 
of  which  stands  in  a  yard  surrounded  by  high  walls.  The 
houses  are  of  clay,  stones,  or  sun-dried  brick,  those  of  the 
better  classes  being  coated  with  mortar  or  plaster  of  Paris. 
The  roofs  are  almost  flat.  They  are  made  by  laying  tim- 
bers on  the  mud  walls,  and  covering  the  timbers  with  brush, 
upon  which  is  put  a  layer  of  mud  mixed  with  straw.  Every 
summer  a  fresh  coat  of  mud  is  spread  on,  and  as  a  result 
many  of  the  roofs  are  a  foot  or  more  thick. 

These  houses  have  but  little  furniture.  The  floor  is  the 
ground,  well  pounded  down,  with  matting  spread  over  it, 
and  sometimes  over  the  matting  beautiful  rugs.  The 
floors  of  most  homes  form  the  tables  and  chairs  of  the  fam- 
ily. The  people  sleep  there  at  night,  using  no  sheets,  and 
covering  themselves  with  thick  quilts.  In  the  daytime  the 
bedding  is  rolled  up  and  put  away  in  a  corner. 

The  cooking  is  done  upon  fires  out  of  doors,  or  in  fireplaces. 
The  Persians  eat  with  their  fingers,  and  the  plates  of  the 
poorer  classes  are  sometimes  thin  cakes  of  bread.  When 
a  man  is  through  with  the  rest  of  his  food,  he  may  eat  up 
his  plate,  and  during  the  meal  he  tears  off  bits  of  it,  and, 
by  bending  them  in  half,  uses  them  as  pincers  to  convey 
the  meat  from  the  soup  to  his  mouth.  The  diet  of  the 
common  people  is  largely  made  up  of  bread,  cheese,  and 
milk,  with  a  little  soup  or   meat  in  the  form  of   a  stew 


326  PERSIA 

once  a  day.  They  drink  a  great  deal  of  tea  and  some 
coffee. 

Outside  each  village  are  threshing  floors,  places  where 
the  ground  has  been  pounded  and  rolled  until  it  is  as  hard 
as  stone.  The  wheat  or  barley  is  brought  here  from  the 
fields,  and  oxen  are  driven  over  it  to  thresh  out  the  grain. 
Then  the  farmers  take  their  wooden  pitchforks  and  toss 
the  grain  into  the  air  until  the  chaff  has  all  blown  away. 
The  straw  is  kept  for  stock  feeding. 

The  chief  business  of  the  Persians  is  farming  and  the 
rearing  of  stock.  The  farms  are  irrigated  by  the  streams 
from  the  mountains,  and  canals  for  this  purpose  have  long 
been  in  use.  The  country  produces  great  quantities  of 
wheat,  barley,  and  rice.  It  has  also  large  mulberry  or- 
chards which  feed  silkworms ;  and  it  exports  raw  silk,  silk 
cocoons,  and  silk  stuffs.  Many  fine  fruits  are  grown.  The 
first  peaches  mentioned  in  history  came  from  Persia,  and 
the  country  is  celebrated  for  its  excellent  dates. 

The  sheep  are  of  the  fat-tailed  variety,  many  of  which  we 
have  seen  in  our  travels  through  Asia.  They  produce 
excellent  wool,  from  which  are  woven  beautiful  cloths 
and  the  finest  of  rugs.  Persia  has  also  donkeys,  camels, 
ponies;  and  horses  as  fleet  as  those  of  Arabia.  Much 
of  the  stock  belongs  to  the  nomads,  who  dwell  in  tent 
villages  and  move  about  from  place  to  place  to  find 
pasture.  The  villagers  drive  their  flocks  and  herds  into 
their  yards  at  night,  and  take  them  out  in  the  morning. 
The  milk  of  cows,  sheep,  and  goats  is  universally  used, 
and  they  have  an  odd  custom  to  make  the  cows  let  down 
their  milk.  They  believe  a  cow  will  go  dry  if  it  knows 
that  its  calf  has  been  taken  away ;  and  so,  after  killing  the 
calf,  they  stuff  the  hide  with  straw  and  place  it  beside  the 
cow  at  milking  time. 


328  PERSIA 

But  let  us  take  a  look  at  some  of  the  cities  of  Persia. 
We  shall  first  visit  Teheran  (te-h'ran'),  the  capital.  It  is 
situated  in  the  northern  part  of  the  country,  some  distance 
south  of  the  Caspian  Sea  and  not  far  from  a  range  of  mag- 
nificent mountains  whose  peaks,  during  much  of  the  year, 
are  covered  with  snow.  Many  of  them  measure  over  two 
miles  in  height,  and  away  off  at  the  east  can  be  seen  one 
which  is  more  than  seventeen  thousand  feet  high. 

Teheran  has  some  fine  houses,  but  most  of  the  buildings 
are  of  sun-burnt  brick.  They  are  surrounded  by  walls, 
built  close  to  the  edges  of  narrow  streets,  through  which 
canals  run.  There  are  also  many  mosques  with  egg- 
shaped  domes  faced  with  tiles  of  bright  blue,  and  a  number 
of  large  buildings,  devoted  to  the  officials  of  the  govern- 
ment and  the  colleges  and  schools.  The  city  is  the  largest 
in  Persia.  It  has  about  three  hundred  thousand  people. 
Other  towns  of  considerable  size  are  Tabriz  (ta-brez'), 
Ispahan  (is-pa-han').  Meshed  (mesh-hed'),  and  Kerman 
(ker-man'),  which  range  from  sixty  thousand  to  two  hun- 
dred thousand  in  population. 

Teheran  is  especially  important  in  that  it  is  the  capital 
and  seat  of  the  government.  It  is  here  that  the  Shah 
has  his  palaces,  and  here  parHament  meets.  Until  1906 
Persia  was  an  absolute  monarchy  ruled  by  the  Shah,  v/ho 
used  the  revenues  as  he  pleased.  He  spent  but  little  to- 
wards developing  the  country,  and  was  often  able  during 
his  reign  to  lay  aside  a  vast  portion  in  diamonds  and  other 
precious  stones.  He  had  the  power  of  Hfe  and  death,  and 
many  of  his  actions  were  very  oppressive.  This  continued 
until  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  when  the  people 
began  to  object,  and  in  1906  they  forced  the  Shah  to  grant 
them  a  parliament,  or  national  council,  which  should  fix  the 
taxes  and  control  all  things  of  public  importance.     This 


PERSIA 


329 


parliament  was  elected,  and  Persia  is  now  governed  by  it 
under  the  Shah,  so  that  the  country  may  be  called  a  con- 
stitutional monarchy. 

The  kingdom  is  divided  into  thirty-three  provinces,  each 
of  which  has  several  districts.  There  are  governors  over 
the  provinces,  and  lieutenant  governors  over  the  districts, 
and  in  addition  every  town  has  its  mayor. 


i?*^ 

^-^ 

t' 

r.    < 

;i 

■feN»^ 


;'l>i< 


fi^m^sm-- 


.1* 


Mm 


Shah's  Palace,  Teheran. 


Besides  the  people  so  governed,  are  several  hundred 
thousand  nomads  who  live  in  tents  and  move  about  with 
their  flocks  from  place  to  place.  They  are  divided  into 
many  tribes,  each  of  which  has  its  chief  who  collects  the 
taxes  and  pays  them  to  the  general  government. 

We  are  told  that  Persia  is  rapidly  improving  under  the 
new  government.     Formerly  its  only  schools  were   those 


CARP.  ASIA  —  20 


PERSIA 


331 


connected  with  the  mosques,  the  teachers  being  the  Mo- 
hammedan sheiks,  and  the  children  were  taught  Uttle  more 
than  to  read  the  Koran  and  perhaps  how  to  write.  To-day 
the  government  is  estabUshing  new  schools  which  teach 
the  same  studies  we  have,  and  in  some  of  which  the  chil- 
dren learn  English.  A  number  of  newspapers  are  now 
being  published,  and  many  movements  have  been  started  to 
develop  the  country.     Caravan  and  wagon  roads  are  being 


Street  Scene  in  Tabriz,  Persia. 

laid  out  to  connect  the  chief  cities,  and  in  time  will  come 
railroads. 

Leaving  Teheran,  we  take  a  long  caravan  trip,  during 
which  we  visit  the  city  of  Tabriz,  the  chief  business  center. 
Tabriz  lies  in  northeastern  Persia  not  very  far  from  Mount 
Ararat,  where  it  is  said  Noah's  Ark  rested  after  the  flood. 
The  town  is  made  up  of  a  vast  number  of  one-story  and 
two-story  buildings,  with  larger  buildings  here  and  there 


332 


PERSIA 


scattered  through  it.  The  houses  are  surrounded  by  walls 
built  close  to  the  streets,  and  the  streets  are  so  narrow  that  we 
are  often  crowded  against  the  walls  to  keep  out  of  the  way 
of  the  donkeys  and  camels  which,  with  great  loads  on  their 
backs,  are  continually  passing  through  this  way  and  that. 

We  spend  some  time  in  the  bazaars.     They  consist  of 
little  shops,  built  along  both  sides  of  streets  which  are  so 


B 

i*^'h^w^ 

In  a  Persian  Bazaar. 


roofed  that  the  sun  cannot  come  in.  The  shops  are  much 
like  those  of  India.  Each  merchant  sits  in  a  little  cell 
walled  with  goods,  and  he  has  goods  piled  around  him. 
He  usually  sits  cross-legged  on  the  floor,  and  the  custom- 
ers stand  out  in  the  street  as  they  shop.  There  are  no 
price  marks.  The  man  charges  as  much  as  he  thinks  he 
can  get,  and  the  buyer  offers  as  little  as  he  thinks  he  can 
make  the  man  take.  The  result  is  that  it  requires  a  long 
time  to  buy  anything. 


ARABIA,   OR   LIFE   IN  THE   DESERT  333 

Howbeit,  many  of  the  articles  sold  are  of  considerable 
value,  and  some  are  wonderfully  beautiful.  This  is  espe- 
cially so  of  the  rugs  for  which  the  country  has  been  famous 
for  ages.  Persian  carpets  were  bought  by  the  ancient 
Greeks,  and,  during  the  Middle  Ages,  they  were  carried 
to  Venice,  and  from  there  over  the  Alps  into  north  Europe. 
Persian  shawls  are  also  greatly  admired,  and  some  are 
worth  hundreds  of  dollars.  There  are  many  rugs  made 
in  Tabriz.  In  one  factory  there  we  see  a  thousand  boys 
weaving  them  in  all  sizes  and  of  different  designs.  The 
boys  are  paid  about  ten  cents  a  day.  We  visit  also  many 
smaller  factories,  and  find  rug  making  going  on  in  most 
of  the  villages.  The  rugs  are  all  made  by  hand,  and  a  fine 
one  may  require  months  of  continuous  labor.  A  consider- 
able part  of  this  product  is  shipped  to  America. 

44.     ARABIA,    OR   LIFE   IN    THE   DESERT 

WE  have  traveled  from  Tabriz  southward  through 
Persia  to  Ispahan,  another  of  its  chief  trading  and 
manufacturing  cities,  and  from  there  have  gone  by  caravan 
to  Bushire  (boo-sher'),  the  chief  port  on  the  eastern  coast 
of  the  Persian  Gulf.  Here  we  cross  that  Gulf  to  Bahrein 
(ba-ran'),  Arabia,  and  on  the  way  visit  the  pearl  fishing 
grounds  from  which  more  than  a  million  dollars'  worth  of 
pearls  are  taken  every  year.  The  pearls  come  from  pearl 
oysters,  which  live  far  down  on  the  bed  of  the  sea.  The 
shells  are  gathered  by  Arab  divers,  who  plug  their  ears 
and  noses  with  cotton  and  tie  heavy  stones  to  their  feet  in 
order  that  they  may  the  more  easily  remain  under  the  water. 
Each  diver  has  a  belt  around  his  waist  to  which  a  rope  is 
attached.     He  carries  a  basket  which  he  fills  with  the  oys- 


(334) 


Two  Little  Arabians. 


ARABIA,  OR  LIFE  IN  THE  DESERT  335 

ter  shells.  He  then  signals  by  pulling  on  the  rope,  and  is 
drawn  to  the  surface.  The  shells  are  now  opened,  and  the 
pearls  taken  out. 

We  watch  the  divers  awhile,  and  then  go  on  to  the  main- 
land of  Arabia,  and  make  our  way  down  the  coast  to 
Maskat,  the  chief  city  of  the  province  of  Oman,  where  we 
get  a  ship  which  carries  us  to  Aden.  Most  of  our  travels 
through  western  Persia  were  in  the  desert.  We  have 
passed  over  tracts  in  eastern  Arabia  which  were  all  sand 
and  stone,  and  our  journey  in  the  Indian  Ocean  has  been 
along  barren  shores.  We  are  now  in  Arabia,  lying  at 
anchor  in  a  harbor,  surrounded  by  low,  ragged  mountains 
which  are  all  brown  rock  and  white  sand.  There  is  not  a 
green  tree  or  blade  of  grass  to  be  seen,  and  everything  is 
brown,  gray,  or  dazzling  white.  This  is  typical  of  a  great 
part  of  this  country,  which  is  one  of  the  chief  desert  lands 
of  the  world. 

The  city  of  Aden  itself  is  all  white  and  brown.  The 
houses  are  mostly  one-story  buildings  of  sun-dried  bricks, 
covered  with  plaster;  and  on  the  outskirts,  climbing  the 
hills,  arer  huts  as  brown  as  the  rocks  upon  which  they 
stand.  Everything  seems  dusty  and  dirty.  The  hot,  dry 
air  from  the  desert  sweeps  over  our  ship.  It  parches  our 
tongues,  and  as  soon  as  we  land  we  look  about  for  a  drink 
of  cool  water. 

We  soon  find  that  water  is  worth  money  in  Aden,  and 
that  every  one  must  pay  for  all  he  gets.  It  rains  but 
seldom,  and  sometimes  two  years  pass  without  a  drop  fall- 
ing. There  is  only  one  well  in  the  city,  and  most  of  the 
water  comes  from  the  ocean,  the  sea  water  being  turned 
into  steam  which  when  condensed  is  fresh  water.  The 
machines  for  doing  this  belong  to  the  British  government, 
which  has  control  of  the  city.     It  sells  the  water  to  the 


336 


ARABIA,   OR  LIFE  IN  THE  DESERT 


people,  reserving  a  certain  amount  for  the  British  soldiers 
who  are  stationed  here. 

As  we  walk  through  the  town,  we  see  long  caravans  of 
camels  coming  in  and  going  out.  They  are  laden  with 
wool,  dates,  and  coffee  ;  and  we  are  told  that  two  hundred 
thousand  of  them  come  here  every  year.  Camels  form  the 
chief  means  of  transport  over  the  deserts,  and  if  we  would 


Aden. 


travel  over  them,  we  must  ride  on  these  beasts  and  have 
soldiers  on  camels  to  guard  us. 

But  before  we  go  farther,  let  us  take  a  look  at  Arabia.  It 
is  one  of  the  least  known  lands  of  the  world,  and  much 
of  it  is  still  unexplored.  It  consist's  of  a  stony,  sandy 
peninsula  lying  between  Africa  and  the  main  body  of 
Asia,  being  separated  from  Africa  by  the  Red  Sea,  and 
from  the  remainder  of  Asia  in  part  by  the  long  Persian 


ARABIA,  OR   LIFE   IN  THE  DESERT 


337 


Gulf,  through  which  we  have  sailed.  It  has  a  coast  line  of 
more  than  four  thousand  miles,  but  the  winds  are  compara- 
tively dry  before  they  blow  over  it,  and  the  rainfall  is  almost 
as  scanty  as  in  any  large  region  on  earth. 

The  greater  part  of  Arabia  is  a  high  plateau  surrounded 
by  mountains  beyond 
which,  bordering  the 
Red  Sea,  and  extending 
down  to  the  water,  is  a 
long,  narrow  plain,  which 
in  Yemen  (yem'en)  is  ex- 
ceedingly fertile.  The 
southern  part  of  the  pla- 
teau is  almost  sterile,  but 
there  are  fertile  patches 
in  Oman  and  farther 
north,  and  in  the  interior 
vast  tracts  fitted  for  the 
grazing  of  camels,  horses, 
sheep,  and  goats. 

In  the  past  it  was 
thought  that  the  whole 
plateau  was  a  desert,  but 
recent  explorations  have 
shown  that  perhaps  two 
thirds  of  it  may  be  used 
for  grazing  or  farming. 
There  are  no  large  rivers,  ^^^^  ^^^^' 

but  many  wadies,  or  river  beds,  which,  for  the  greater  part 
of  the  year,  although  dry  on  the  surface,  have  water  flow- 
ing below  them.  These  underground  streams  are  reached 
by  wells,  and  the  wadies,  therefore,  form  the  chief  caravan 
routes. 


338  ARABIA,  OR  LIFE  IN  THE  DESERT 

A  part  of  northern  Arabia  and  of  the  coast  along  the 
Red  Sea  is  nominally  governed  by  Turkey.  Much  of  the 
western  and  southern  coasts  are  subject  to  the  British.  The 
latter  nation,  through  its  government  of  Egypt,  controls 
the  peninsula  of  Sinai  and  several  important  provinces 
along  the  Red  Sea,  and  Aden  belongs  to  it  outright.  Most 
of  the  country,  however,  is  independent,  being  inhabited 
by  tribes  of  Bedouins,  each  ruled  by  its  chief.  Many  of 
the  Bedouins  are  tent  dwellers,  but  some  inhabit  cities, 
and  they  have  many  villages  of  mud  or  stone  houses 
scattered  here  and  there  over  the  mighty  plateau. 

The  Arabs  number  all  together  eight  or  ten  millions. 
They  come  from  the  same  race  as  ourselves,  although  their 
life  and  habits  in  the  hot  deserts  of  Arabia  have  given  them 
a  different  complexion,  some  being  almost  as  black  as  a 
negro.  They  are  a  lean  race,  tall  and  well-formed  and,  on 
the  whole,  fine-looking.  They  have  straight  black  hair  and 
black  or  brown  eyes.  Their  faces  are  oval,  their  noses 
aquiline,  and  their  eyes  small  and  deep-set.  They  are 
very  proud,  but  are  polite,  good-natured,  and  hospitable. 
They  seem  to  be  distrustful  of  strangers  and  are  ready  to 
quarrel  whenever  occasion  offers. 

We  may  see  Arabs  in  Aden,  and  shall  meet  them  every- 
where as  we  travel  over  the  peninsula.  Here  comes  one 
now  leading  a  camel,  his  black  face  shining  out  in  contrast 
to  the  white  cotton  gown  which  he  wears.  His  gown  is 
open  at  the  chest  and  bound  round  the  waist  with  a  girdle 
of  leather.  He  has  also  a  goat's-hair  coat  of  black  and  white 
stripes  which  falls  to  his  thighs,  and  his  head  is  covered 
with  a  bright  yellow  silk  handkerchief,  tied  on  with  a  black 
woolen  rope  as  thick  as  your  thumb.  The  rope  is  bound 
round  his  head  again  and  again  in  such  a  way  that  the 
handkerchief  covers  a  part  of  his  forehead  and  neck  and 


ARABIA,   OR   LIFE  IN  THE  DESERT 


339 


falls  on  his  shoulders.  His  feet  are  bare,  but  they  are 
protected  from  the  hot  road  by  sandals  of  wood. 

Behind  the  man  walks  a  Bedouin  woman.  See  how 
straight  and  fine-looking  she  is  !  Her  face,  strange  to  say, 
is  not  hidden ;  and  she  is  evidently  proud  of  her  necklace 
of  silver  and  of  the  earrings  of  gold  which  half  cover  her 
cheeks.  Her  black  face  is  tattooed,  her  eyelashes  darkened, 
and  her  finger  nails  and  toe  nails  stained  a  bright  red. 
She  wears  a  blue  gown  which  falls  to  her  feet,  and  has  a 
piece  of  dark  blue  cotton  over  her  head.  Other  women  we 
meet  have  on  veils  of  various  kinds,  and  we  learn  that  most 
of  the  women  cover  their  faces  when  they  go  out  of  doors. 
In  some  places  they  hide  all  but  the  eyes,  and  in  eastern 
Arabia  a  thin  black  cloth  serves  as  a  veil.  The  Arabs 
are  Mohammedans,  whose  women  as  we  have  already  seen 
seldom  go  about  with  bare  faces. 

The  inhabitants  of  Arabia  are  divided  into  two  classes ; 
those  who  live  in  tents  and  those  of  the  towns  and  villages. 
The  tent  dwellers  are  wandering  tribes,  known  as  Bed- 
ouins, who  live  by  rearing  stock,  moving  about  with  their 
sheep,  goats,  camels,  horses,  and  asses  from  one  grazing 
ground  to  another.  They  are  of  many  tribes,  each  of  which 
has  its  own  district  and  is  ruled  by  a  chief.  They  are  the 
men  of  the  desert,  and  we  shall  find  many  of  them  also  in 
the  arid  lands  of  Syria  farther  north. 

The  Bedouins  are  bold,  and  as  a  rule  are  not  friendly  to 
strangers.  If  we  would  travel  with  safety,  we  must  pay  a 
tribute  to  the  chiefs,  or  sheiks,  to  keep  their  subjects  from 
robbing  us,  and  a  powerful  chief  may  send  his  soldiers 
along  with  us  to  protect  our  caravan  from  wandering 
bands  on  the  way. 

We  stop  now  and  then  at  one  of  the  Bedouin  camps. 
The  tents  are  of  homespun,  goat's  hair,  or  wool,  dyed  black 


340  ARABIA,   OR  LIFE   IN  THE  DESERT 

and  woven  into  a  coarse  cloth  by  the  women  of  the  tribe. 
The  ordinary  tent  is  seldom  more  than  twenty  feet. long. 
It  is  usually  divided  by  a  curtain  into  two  rooms,  one  for 
the  women  and  children,  and  the  other  for  men.  There 
is  but  little  furniture.  The  ground  serves  as  the  table, 
chair,  and  bed  of  the  family.  The  cooking  is  done  over 
open  fires,  and  all  eat  with  their  fingers.  Millet  and  dates 
form  the  principal  food.  The  millet  is  ground  between 
stones  to  a  flour,  and  made  into  cakes.  The  dates  come 
from  the  date  palm,  of  which  there  are  many  varieties. 
They  are  eaten  also  by  the  horses  and  camels,  and  even  by 
dogs.  Some  of  the  tent  dwellers  raise  a  little  wheat  and 
barley,  but  millet  is  the  chief  crop. 

There  are  many  children  in  these  little  tent  villages. 
They  watch  the  flocks,  play  with  the  horses  and  edits,  and 
roll  about  on  the  sand.  The  babies  are  naked,  and  the 
girls  and  boys  wear  no  clothing  until  they  are  quite  large. 
We  see  children  as  old  as  ourselves  who  have  on  almost 
nothing.  Their  skins  are  dark  brown  or  black,  and  they 
shine  under  the  tropical  sun,  which  is  so  hot  that  we  feel 
like  throwing  off  our  clothes  and  playing  as  they  do. 

Of  all  the  stock  kept  by  the  Bedouins,  the  camels  are 
most  interesting  and  especially  the  camel  colts  which  are 
still  with  their  mothers.  They  are  ungainly  little  creatures, 
and  when  we  chase  them  they  run  off  at  great  speed. 
The  Bedouin  boys  tell  us  that  some  camels  are  slow 
and  some  fast.  There  are  riding  camels  and  freight 
camels.  The  riding  animals  are  for  traveling ;  they  make 
six  or  more  miles  an  hour,  and  some  will  go  seventy-five 
miles  in  one  day.  The  freight  camels  are  used  to  transport 
goods  over  the  country.  They  go  about  three  miles  or 
less  in  one  hour,  but  each  will  carry  three  hundred  pounds. 
Camels  are  especially  fitted  for  work  in  the  desert.     Their 


342  IN  AN  ARABIAN   VILLAGE 

Stomachs  are  such  that  they  can  store  away  enough  water 
at  one  drinking  to  last  for  a  week,  and  are  therefore  able 
to  traverse  the  long  distances  in  these  sandy  wastes  where 
no  water  is  to  be  had. 

Arabian  horses  are  among  the  finest  known  to  the 
world,  and  the  best  of  them  are  produced  in  the  province 
of  Nejd,  on  the  central  plateau.  The  Arabian  horse  is 
not  as  large  as  the  average  American  horse,  and  we  have 
many  race  horses  which  can  go  faster  than  any  Arabian. 
These  horses,  however,  are  so  beautifully  formed,  and  are 
so  noted  for  their  kindness,  endurance,  and  other  good 
qualities,  that  every  one  wants  them.  They  are  usually 
gray  in  color,  although  some  are  chestnut,  sorrel,  or  black. 
Reared  in  the  desert,  they  become  accustomed  to  go  long 
distances  without  water,  and  it  is  said  that  a  desert-bred 
steed  will  travel  a  whole  day  and  night  in  the  summer 
and  about  twice  as  long  in  the  winter  without  either  water 
or  food. 

We  find  that  the  Bedouins  think  much  of  their  horses. 
They  keep  them  staked  near  their  tents  and  allow  them  to 
run  about  everywhere.  They  treat  them  so  kindly  that 
they  seldom  become  vicious.  The  children  are  allowed  to 
play  with  them,  and  they  are  really  made  a  part  of  the 
family.  The  horses  are  ridden  with  halters,  being  guided 
this  way  and  that  by  a  pressure  of  the  knee. 

45.    IN   AN   ARABIAN   VILLAGE.     MECCA   AND 

MEDINA 

TO-DAY   we   shall   see   something   of   the   cities  and 
villages  of  Arabia.     The  cities  are  small,  most  of  them 
small  settlements  along  the  coastal  plain  of  the  Red  Sea 


IN  AN  ARABIAN  VILLAGE 


343 


and  in  Oman  at  the  southeastern  end  of  the  peninsula. 
By  far  the  largest  are  Mecca  and  Medina,  in  western 
Arabia.  These  two  cities  were  the  homes  and  chief 
preaching  places  of  the  prophet  Mohammed,  and  for  that 
reason  are  considered  so  holy  by  the  Mohammedans  all 
over  the  world  that  they  go  there  to  worship  in  crowds 
every  year. 


A  Home  in  the  Desert. 


We  shall  first  visit  the  villages.  They  are  to  be  found 
in  such  places  as  contain  considerable  tracts  of  cultivable 
land.  They  are  everywhere  of  much  the  same  character. 
The  houses  are  seldom  of  more  than  two  stories,  and  the 
most  of  them  of  but  one  story  only.  They  are  built  of 
mud  bricks  or  of  stones  put  together  with  mortar.  They 
have  flat  roofs,  and  are  often  surrounded  by  walls.     Each 


344  IN  AN  ARABIAN  VILLAGE 

village  is  cut  up  by  winding  streets  and  it  has  a  market 
place  in  the  center  about  which  are  the  shops  where  the 
people  come  together  to  trade.  The  shops  are  often  kept 
by  women,  and  but  little  else  than  food  is  sold  in  them. 

But  suppose  we  pay  a  visit  to  a  high-class  Arab.  His 
house  is  exceedingly  rude,  although  it  is  somewhat  better 
than  that  of  the  average  native.  There  are  no  windows 
facing  the  street,  and  the  door  is  so  low  that  we  must 
stoop  to  go  in.  Entering,  we  come  into  the  gentleman's 
parlor,  where  all  male  guests  are  received.  If  we  should 
stay  overnight,  we  may  sleep  in  this  room  on  the  floor. 

Our  host  is  well-to-do,  and  his  home  has  some  furniture. 
The  floor  is  covered  with  rugs,  and  there  are  cushions  here 
and  there,  upon  which  we  sit  in  Oriental  fashion  with  our 
legs  crossed.  At  one  end  of  the  room  is  the  fireplace, 
where  a  brass  coffee  pot  steams.  As  soon  as  we  are  seated 
our  host  claps  his  hands,  and  a  servant  offers  each  of  us  a 
cup  no  larger  than  half  an  eggshell.  It  is  filled  with  a 
brown  fluid  so  thick  that  it  looks  more  like  molasses  than 
coffee.  The  steam  rises,  as  the  coffee  is  poured  from  the 
pot,  and  we  blow  it  a  little  to  cool  it.  We  then  sip  it 
slowly,  enjoying  the  delicious  aroma.  This  country  is  one 
of  the  homes  of  the  coffee  plant,  and  the  famed  Mocha, 
which  is  considered  about  the  best  of  all  coffee  on  earth, 
comes  from  a  city  of  that  name  in  Yemen,  Arabia. 

We  find  our  friends  hospitable,  and  remain  with  them 
until  evening.  As  the  night  approaches,  dinner  is  served, 
and  we  sit  down  around  the  meal  on  the  floor.  The  food 
consists  of  thin  wheat  cakes  baked  to  a  crisp  in  an  oven,  and 
a  stew  of  camel's  flesh.  Vt  great  feasts  a  sheep  or  lamb 
may  be  roasted,  and  this  is  brought  in  whole  to  the  guests. 

We  eat  with  our  fingers,  picking  the  meat  out  of  the 
stew   with   pieces  of  cake  which   we  double   up  for  the 


IN  AN  ARABIAN  VILLAGE 


345 


purpose.     When  we  have  finished  the  stew,  dates  and  other 

fruits  and  sweets  are  brought  in ;  and  after  that  a  basin  of 

water  is  passed  round  and  every  one  washes  his  hands. 

Now  a  boy  brings  a  covered  bowl  in  which  incense  burns. 

He  sways  this   about  each  guest   in  order  that   he   may 

perfume  his  face, 

hands,  and  clothes. 

We  have  no  wine  at 

the  meal.  The  Arabs 

are  Mohammedans, 

and    they    do    not 

believe  it  is  right  to 

drink     anything 

which  intoxicates. 

As  we  go  on  with 
our  travels,  stop- 
ping at  one  village 
after  another,  visit- 
ing with  the  people 
in  their  tents  and 
houses,  we  come  to 
like  them  very 
much.  They  are 
cleanly  as  to  their 
persons.  They 
bathe  often,  and 
take    such    care   of 

their  teeth  that  they  shine  out  like  rows  of  ivory,  made 
whiter  by  the  darkness  of  their  complexions.  We  observe 
that  the  men  and  boys  shave  their  heads,  and  that  they 
wear  fez  caps  or  large  turbans. 

The  Arabs  have  bright  minds,  although  the  schools  are 
few  and  not  many  of  the  people  can  read  or  write.     The 

CARP.  ASIA  —  21 


A  Sheik  of  Mecca. 


346 


IN  AN  ARABIAN  VILLAGE 


teaching  is  mostly  confined  to  the  Koran,  or  Mohammedan 
Bible,  and  the  sheiks  or  the  priests  are  the  teachers. 
Nevertheless,  a  long  time  ago,  the  Arabs  were  among  the 
most  learned  men  of  the  world.  They  had  the  best  doc- 
tors, and  were  famous  as  astronomers  and  mathematicians. 

It  was  they  who  intro- 
duced the  study  of  alge- 
bra into  western  Europe, 
and  for  a  long  time  they 
were  noted  for  their  geo- 
graphical knowledge. 

But  suppose  we  take  a 
look  at  Mecca,  where 
Mohammed  was  born. 
Arabia,  as  we  have  al- 
ready learned,  is  alto- 
gether a  Mohammedan 
country.  It  was  long  the 
seat  of  the  Mohammedan 
religion,  and  Mecca,  as 
the  birthplace  of  their 
prophet,  is  still  holy  to  the 
many  millions  of  that 
faith.  They  consider  it 
so  sacred  that  whenever 
they  say  their  prayers, 
they  kneel  down  with 
their  faces  towards  it,  and  this  is  so  whether  they  be  in 
Java,  China,  India,  Africa,  or  in  any  other  part  of  the 
world.  Indeed,  Mecca  is  considered  so  holy  that  strangers 
are  not  allowed  to  visit  it,  and  it  is  only  through  those,  who 
have  gone  there  in  disguise  and  described  it,  that  we  know 
much  about  it.     It  is  a  town  of  fifty  thousand  or  more, 


A  Mohammedan  at  Prayer. 


ASIATIC  TURKEY  347 

lying  in  the  interior  of  the  country,  about  seventy-five 
miles  east  of  the  Red  Sea.  One  way  of  reaching  it  is 
by  the  port  of  Jidda,  from  where  the  people  go  in  by 
camels  or  on  foot ;  and  another  is  by  a  railroad  which  the 
Mohammedans  have  recently  built  from  Damascus  down 
through  the  desert  by  the  way  of  Medina. 

The  great  sight  at  Mecca  is  the  sacred  mosque  which 
contains  the  Kaaba,  a  little  building  in  its  center  which  is 
supposed  to  be  especially  holy,  and  also  a  black  stone, 
which,  according  to  their  tradition,  fell  down  from  Para- 
dise when  Adam  was  thrust  out  of  the  Garden  of  Eden. 
The  Mohammedans  believe  that  when  they  kiss  this  stone, 
their  sins  pass  away  as  their  lips  touch  the  rock.  They 
tell  us  that  when  the  stone  fell  to  earth  it  was  whiter  than 
snow,  but  that,  having  been  kissed  by  the  people  through 
so  many  generations,  their  sins  have  gone  into  it  and 
turned  it  jet-black.  The  character  of  the  stone  shows  it 
to  be  of  meteoric  origin,  and  we  know  that  there  are  similar 
ones  in  other  parts  of  the  world. 

Medina,  where  Mohammed  was  buried,  is  much  less 
than  Mecca  in  size,  and  is  not  considered  so  sacred.  It  is 
surrounded  by  a  wall  forty  feet  high ;  but  the  streets  are 
narrow  and  dirty,  and  the  houses  are  flat-roofed  and  of 
two  stories  only.  The  tomb  of  the  Prophet  lies  inside  a 
great  mosque,  which  covers  a  space  of  almost  three  acres. 

46.   ASIATIC  TURKEY.     IN  PALESTINE  AND 
MESOPOTAMIA 

OUR  next  journeys  are  to  be  devoted  to  the  many  cu- 
rious countries  of  Asiatic  Turkey,  including  Syria, 
Mesopotamia,  Armenia,  and  Asia   Minor,   lying   west   of 


348 


ASIATIC  TURKEY 


PALESTINE 

SCALE  OF  MILES 
0  10  20  80 


Persia  and  north  of  Arabia,  and  bounded  on  the   north 
and  west  by  the  Black  and  Mediterranean  seas. 

These  countries  comprise  a  territory  more  than  ten 
times  the  size  of  the  state  of  Ohio,  and  some  parts  of  them 
are  thickly  populated.  They  have  all  together  about  sixteen 
miUion  inhabitants,  including  many  different  peoples  and 

tribes.  There  are  Turks, 
Arabs,  Syrians,  Greeks, 
Armenians,  and  Jews, 
all  of  whom  we  shall  see 
as  we  go  on  with  our 
travels.  Asiatic  Turkey 
is  governed  by  the  Sul- 
tan, who  lives  at  Con- 
stantinople in  Europe, 
and  who  rules  it  through 
the  governors  and  local 
officials. 

The  land  is  one  of 
mountains  and  table- 
lands with  several  val- 
leys and  plains  of  won- 
derful fertility.  It  has 
some  large  rivers  such 
as  the  Euphrates  and 
Tigris,  which  have  been 
famous  as  far  back  as 
man  can  remember.  It  was  in  the  valleys  of  the  Tigris 
and  Euphrates,  known  as  Mesopotamia,  that  the  ancient 
cities  of  Nineveh  and  Babylon  stood,  and  many  men  think 
that  there  was  the  place  where  the  Tower  of  Babel  was 
started.  Bagdad,  of  which  we  have  read  so  much  in  the 
"Arabian  Nights,"  stands  on  the  Tigris,  and  in  the  western 


ASIATIC  TURKEY  349 

part  of  Asiatic  Turkey  are  Damascus  and  Jerusalem  and 
the  lands  of  the  Bible. 

If  we  should  cross  Arabia  by  caravan  to  Mesopotamia 
and  visit  Bagdad,  we  should  find  that  it  is  still  a  thriving 
city  with  baziars,  much  the  same  as  when  Haroun  Al 
Raschid  ruled  there  ;  and  did  we  go  down  the  Tigris  and  the 
Euphrates,  we  should  travel  through  many  rich,  irrigated 
farms,  including  some  of  the  largest  date  groves  of  the 
world.  The  date  palms  number  hundreds  of  thousands, 
and  they  annually  yield  enough  fruit  to  give  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  in  our  country  three  pounds,  and  leave 
some  to  spare.  The  fruit  is  picked  from  the  trees  and 
packed  up  in  bags  or  wooden  boxes  in  which  it  is  sent  to 
Bassora  (bas's5-ra),  the  port  at  the  head  of  the  Persian 
Gulf,  and  from  there  to  the  United  States,  to  Europe,  and 
indeed  all  over  the  world. 

We  shall  find  it  much  easier,  however,  to  continue  our 
journey  northward,  through  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Suez 
Canal,  to  Port  Said  on  the  Mediterranean,  from  where,  al- 
most every  night,  ships  sail  for  Yafa  in  Palestine.  The 
journey  is  a  short  one,  and  when  we  awake  in  the  morning, 
we  are  at  anchor  in  front  of  a  ragged  white  and  gray  town 
built  upon  the  rocks  on  the  very  edge  of  the  sea.  We 
have  trouble  in  landing,  for  the  water  is  rough;  but  we 
finally  get  to  the  shore,  where  we  take  the  railroad  train 
for  Jerusalem,  which  lies  about  forty  miles  distant  in  the 
Judean  Mountains. 

The  ride  is  delightful.  We  first  go  through  the  orange 
groves  for  which  Yafa  is  famous  and  then  cross  the  flat 
plains  of  Sharon,  where  the  Philistines  lived.  We  next 
climb  the  mountains,  passing  over  the  country  where  Sam- 
son was  born,  and,  farther  on,  see  where  little  David  had 
his  fight  with  Goliath. 


350 


ASIATIC  TURKEY 


Gathering  Dates  in  the  Valley  of  the  Euphrates. 


ASIATIC  TURKEY 


351 


The  plains  of  Sharon  are  fertile,  and  the  grass  is  as  green 
as  that  of  our  country  in  June.  The  sides  of  the  roads 
and  the  borders  of  the  fields  are  covered  with  great  beds 
of  poppies,  the  flowers  of  which  are  as  big  as  the  palm  of 
one's  hand  and  as  red  as  fresh  blood.  In  some  places  the 
farmers  are  plowing.  They  wear  white  gowns  and  tur- 
bans, and  use  plows  made  of  two  sticks  of  wood  fastened 


"  In  some  places  the  farmers  are  plowing. 


to  a  yoke  which  rests  on  the  necks  of  the  camels  or  don- 
keys. The  farmer  holds  the  plow  with  one  hand,  and  car- 
ries a  long  goad  or  stick  with  the  other,  with  which  he 
pokes  up  the  beasts  as  they  travel  the  furrows. 

As  we  cHmb  the  hillsides  we  see  many  shepherds  watch- 
ing their  flocks  of  white  sheep  and  black  goats,  and  in 
some  of  the  wheat  fields  see  girls  picking  out  the  weeds 
known  as  tares. 


352 


ASIATIC  TURKEY 


It  takes  us  about  an  hour  to  reach  the  country  where 
the  Israelites  lived,  and  the  road  then  winds  in  and  out 
among  rocky  mountains.  We  pass  groves  of  olive  trees, 
and  climbing  ever  higher  and  higher,  at  last  arrive  at 
the  little  plateau  upon  which  Jerusalem  stands.  We  are 
now  about  twenty-five  hundred  feet  above  our  starting 
place  at  Jaffa  on  the  edge  of  the  sea,  and  in  front  of  one 

of  the  most  famous 
and  interesting 
places  of  the  whole 
world. 

Before  we  enter 
Jerusalem,  let  us 
take  a  bird's-eye 
view  of  Palestine. 
We  knew  that  it  was 
a  small  country,  but 
we  did  not  realize 
how  very  small  it  is. 
On  the  average, 
Palestine  is  not  more 
than  fifty  miles  wide, 
and  it  is  just  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  long.  Were  it  level,  a  high- 
power  automobile  could  cross  it  in  one  hour,  and  if  the 
road  ran  lengthwise,  one  might  start  at  eight  o'clock  in 
the  morning  at  Dan,  which  lies  at  the  north  in  the  foothills 
of  the  Lebanon  Mountains,  and  by  noon  he  could  be  at 
Beersheba  (be-er-she'ba),  at  the  extreme  southern  end  and 
on  the  edge  of  Arabia.  The  country  is  so  small  that,  stand- 
ing on  the  Mount  of  Olives  outside  Jerusalem,  one  can,  if 
the  day  be  bright,  see  the  Mediterranean  on  one  side  of 
him  and  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  Jordan  on  the  other. 


Boys  of  Jerusalem. 


ASIATIC  TURKEY  353 

The  land  is  for  the  most  part  a  low,  mountainous  range 
covered  with  limestone,  and  much  of  it  is  so  barren  and 
rocky  that  it  cannot  be  cultivated.  On  the  east  is  a  deep 
valley  in  which  lie  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  Sea  of  Galilee 
connected  by  the  winding  river  Jordan,  and  on  the  west  is 
a  narrow  coastal  plain.  Another  plain  or  valley  crosses 
the  country  from  the  lower  end  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee  to  the 
Mediterranean. 

The  Jerusalem  of  to-day  is  large.  It  contains  all  to- 
gether eighty  or  ninety  thousand  people,  more  than  half 
of  whom  live  inside  a  great  wall  which  runs  around  most 
of  the  town,  skirting  the  edges  of  a  little  plateau.  The 
walls  are  of  yellow  limestone  taken  from  the  quarries 
near  by.  They  are  beautifully  made,  rising  to  the  height 
of  a  four-story  house.  On  three  sides  of  the  plateau  the 
ground  slopes  from  the  walls  down  into  valleys  at  an  angle 
so  steep  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  climb  up  except  on 
your  hands  and  knees.  The  fourth  side  of  the  city  faces 
the  plain.  We  can  see  that  a  place  so  situated  could  be 
easily  defended,  and  that  this  was  one  of  the  reasons  why 
the  Israelites  chose  this  site  for  their  capital. 

But  let  us  take  a  look  at  the  city  inside  the  walls.  The 
space  is  covered  with  boxlike  stone  houses  built  one  on 
top  of  the  other  in  all  sorts  of  shapes.  The  houses  are 
crowded  along  narrow  streets  which  wind  this  way  and 
that.  Above  them,  here  and  there,  rises  the  spire  of  a 
church,  and  in  one  corner  are  about  thirty-five  acres  where 
stands  an  immense  building  with  a  green  dome  of  bronze. 
That  is  the  Mosque  of  Omar.  It  is  on  the  site  of  Solo- 
mon's Temple,  and  under  it  scientists  suppose  the  ruins 
of  the  temple  to  be. 

In  the  center  of  Jerusalem,  high  above  the  mass  of  stone 
boxes,  may  be  seen  another  great  dome.     It  crowns  the 


354 


ASIATIC  TURKEY 


Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  is  supposed  to  cover 
the  spot  where  Jesus  was  crucified.  It  is  there  that 
pilgrims  from  many  parts  of  the  world  come  to  worship, 
and  there  is  kept  the  marble  tomb  in  which,  as  the  Oriental 
Christians  believe,  the  body  of  Jesus  was  laid. 

We  are  surprised  at  the  meanness  and  squalor  of  Jerusa- 


Jerusalem. 

lem.  It  is  made  up  of  narrow  streets,  walled  with  houses 
more  closely  packed  together  than  those  of  any  other  city 
of  the  world.  The  buildings  are  swarming  with  people. 
There  are  families  of  Jews,  Greeks,  and  Armenians,  each 
living  in  one  room,  so  small,  indeed,  that  it  would  be 
thought  hardly  large  enough  for  a  bedroom  in  America. 
Many  of  the  rooms  have  no  windows,  and  some  are  like 
vaulted  caves  and  are  lighted  only  at  the  front.     Most 


ASIATIC  TURKEY 


355 


of  the  buildings  are  walled,  floored,  and  ceiled  with  stone. 
Sometimes  they  are  built  around  courts  upon  which  the 
rooms  open;  and  in  such  cases  the  people  often  cook  in 
the  courts  because  there  is  no  space  left  inside  the  house. 

The  roofs  of  these  Jerusalem  houses  are  flat,  and  not  a 
few  of  them  are  covered  with  grass.  At  night  they  form 
the  loafing  places  of  the  families,  and  in  the  summer  the 
people  sleep  there.  We 
see  no  chimneys.  The 
fuel  most  commonly  used 
is  charcoal,  which  makes 
but  little  smoke. 

But  let  us  take  a  walk 
through  the  streets.  We 
shall  find  them  quite  as 
queer  as  the  houses.  In 
some  places  they  are  hke 
tunnels,  being  roofed 
over  by  the  second 
stories  of  the  buildings 
and  walled  on  each  side 
by  what  seem  to  be  long 
lines  of  vaulted  caves. 
These  caves  are  shops 
or  stores  which  open  right  out  upon  the  street.  They  are 
not  large  enough  for  the  customers  to  enter  and  hardly 
big  enough  for  the  turbaned  merchant  to  turn  around 
inside  them.  Indeed,  it  looks  to  us  as  though  Jerusalem 
might  have  been  made  by  the  descendants  of  the  cave 
dwellers.  This  cavelike  character  prevails  also  in  the  vil- 
lages of  Palestine,  many  being  cut  out  of  the  hills,  which 
form  the  back  walls  of  the  houses. 

What  a  variety  of  f.aces  we  see  on  the  streets  !     There 


roofed  over  by  the  second  stories  of 
the  houses." 


356 


ASIATIC  TURKEY 


are  men  here  from  all  parts  of  the  Turkish  Empire. 
There  are  pilgrims  by  the  thousand  from  Russia  and 
Greece  and  visitors  from  every  country  of  Christendom. 
Let  us  climb  to  the  roof  of  one  of  the  houses  and  look 
down  on  the  crowd  which  passes  below.  That  dark-faced, 
bearded  man  in  a  long  brown  and  white  gown,  with  a  yel- 
low handkerchief  covering  his  head,  is  a  Bedouin.     We  can 

see  the  black  rope  tied 
round  the  kerchief,  and 
he  reminds  us  of  the 
camel  guards  we  had  in 
Arabia.  Next  him  is  a 
shepherd  from  Bethle- 
hem in  a  coat  of  sheep- 
skin, below  which  a  white 
gown  falls  to  the  feet. 
He  has  his  daughter  with 
him,  and  we  see  that  her 
face  is  as  fair  and  her 
features  as  regular  as  our 
own.  She  wears  a  gown 
of  red  and  green  silk  and 
has  on  a  cap  covered 
with  rows  of  gold  coins. 
That   cap    contains   her 


Shepherds  from  Bethlehem. 


dowry,  and  it  shows  how  much  money  she  will  bring  to  her 
husband  when  married. 

As  we  look,  little  droves  of  donkeys  laden  with  grain 
pass  beneath  us,  and  men  from  the  desert  come  in  upon 
camels.  There  are  also  many  Russian  pilgrims  on  foot. 
The  men  wear  long  coats  and  trousers  and  boots  which 
come  to  the  knees.  The  women  are  clad  in  short  gowns 
and  high  boots.     There  are  also  Armenians  and  Greeks, 


ASIATIC  TURKEY  357 

some  of  whom  wear  clothing  like  ours.  Some  have  skull- 
caps of  red  felt,  known  as  the  fez,  and  others  wear  turbans. 
We  see  Christians  from  Abyssinia  with  faces  like  jet,  and 
men  from  northern  Europe  with  cheeks  as  fair  as  our  own. 
There  are  also  many  Mohammedans,,  but  it  is  impossible  to 
tell  who  they  are,  for  their  dress  does  not  indicate  their 
religion. 

There  are  some,  however,  whose  faith  we  cannot  mis- 
take. I  refer  to  the  Jews.  They  have  olive-brown  faces, 
curved  noses,  and  their  features  are  usually  strong.  The 
men  all  wear  beards  and  two  long  curls  of  hair,  one  of 
which  hangs  down  in  front  of  each  ear.  They  wear  cloth 
gowns  or  coats  that  come  almost  to  the  feet,  and  many  of 
them  have  caps  bound  round  with  a  fur,  that  sticks  out 
like  the  quills  of  a  mad  porcupine.  The  Jewish  women 
wear  bright-colored  dresses  and  shawls  upon  which  flowers 
are  embroidered  or  printed.  We  can  tell  them,  also,  by 
their  bare  faces,  the  Mohammedan  women  being  always 
veiled  when  they  go  out  on  the  street. 

Leaving  Jerusalem,  we  take  horses  and  ride  all  day  to 
the  eastward,  over  the  hills  to  the  valley  of  the  Jordan. 
We  descend  into  the  valley  and  follow  the  course  of 
the  river  to  where  it  empties  into  the  Dead  Sea.  We  are 
now  on  the  shore  of  the  lowest  body  of  water  on  earth. 
The  Dead  Sea  lies  thirteen  hundred  feet  below  the  level 
of  the  ocean,  and  it  has  no  perceptible  outlet.  Its  waters 
are  far  more  salty  than  the  ocean,  containing  so  much 
mineral  matter  that  if  you  should  boil  down  a  tumbler 
full,  one  fourth  of  the  contents  would  be  found  to  be 
salt.  They  are  so  heavy  that  when  we  go  in  for  a  swim 
we  find  that  we  cannot  possibly  sink.  We  bob  up  and 
down  like  a  cork;  and  if  we  move,  our  feet  seem  to  be 
thrown  to  the  surface.     The  Dead  Sea  is  not  large.     Its 


358 


ASIATIC  TURKEY 


Two  Girls  of  Bethlehem. 


ASIATIC  TURKEY 


359 


length  is  only  forty-seven  miles  and  its  width  not  more 
than  ten- 
Climbing  back  up  to  Jerusalem,  we  make  our  way 
northward  through  a  hilly  country  into  Samaria,  and 
thence  to  Galilee  to  visit  Nazareth,  where  the  boyhood  of 
Jesus  was  spent.  It  is  a  little  town  in  the  mountains, 
surrounded  by  green   fields   and   beautiful   flowers.     We 


Fishing  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee. 


enjoy  ourselves  awhile  there,  playing  with  the  children, 
who  are  noted  for  their  beauty,  and  then  go  on  eastward 
to  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  We  stop  on  the  way  to  visit  the 
spot  where  Jesus  is  said  to  have  preached  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount,  and  then  have  the  fishermen  take  us  out  in 
their  boats.  The  water  is  now  smooth,  and  the  scenery 
delightful.  We  remain  a  day  at  Tiberias  and  then  cross 
the  sea  to  the  railroad  on  which  we  ride  to  Damascus. 


36o 


TRAVELS  AMONG  THE  TURKS 


47.   TRAVELS   AMONG   THE  TURKS 

DAMASCUS  is  one  of  the  oldest  cities  of  the  world. 
Its  origin  is  not  known,  but  it  was  a  thriving  commer- 
cial center  in  the  times  of  Abraham  and  David.  It  is  an 
oasis  city,  lying  on  the  edge  of  the  Syrian  Desert,  in  a 
large  tract  of  fertile  soil  which  is  irrigated  by  two  rivers 


Little  Turks  of  the  Lebanon  Mountains. 

from  the  Lebanon  Mountains.  It  now  has  several  hun- 
dred thousand  inhabitants,  and  its  vast  bazaars  are  filled 
with  fine  goods.  We  visit  the  shops  and  make  excursions 
into  the  country  near  by,  looking  at  the  great  orchards  of 
oranges,  lemons,  and  figs.  We  watch  the  caravans  of 
camels  coming  in  from  Persia  and  elsewhere,  and  later 
take  the  railroad  for  a  trip  over  the  mountains  to  the 
thriving  Mediterranean  port  of  Beirut  (ba'root'). 


TRAVELS   AMONG  THE  TURKS 


361 


From  Beirut  we  steam  northward  to  Smyrna,  a  commer- 
cial center  with  many  Greek  citizens,  and  then  go  through 
Asia  Minor  into  Armenia  and  other  parts  of  Asiatic  Tur- 
key. We  observe  that  the  country  has  much  waste  land. 
It  has  some  forests  on  the  mountains,  and  is  rich  in  min- 
erals, but  only  a  few  good  mines  have  been  opened. 

The  chief  business  of 
Asia  Minor  is  farming, 
but  the  tools  are  of  the 
rudest  description. 
Most  of  the  crops  are 
cut  with  the  sickle,  and 
near  each  Httle  town  is 
a  threshing  floor  upon 
which  the  grain  is  trod- 
den out  by  oxen  or  don- 
keys. The  farms  are 
usually  small,  and  the 
owners  are  compelled  to 
pay  the  government  a 
part  of  the  crop- 
In  many  places  the 
soil  is  exceedingly  fer- 
tile, producing  grain  of 
all  kinds,  as  well  as  cot- 
ton, tobacco,  and  opium.  About  Smyrna  and  elsewhere 
are  orchards  from  which  quantities  of  fine  figs  are  exported 
to  America  and  Europe,  and  we  find  oranges,  olives,  al- 
monds, grapes,  and  nuts  almost  everywhere.  We  can  buy 
Smyrna  figs  in  our  grocery  stores.  In  the  mountains  are 
mulberry  groves,  and  the  people  rear  silkworms  and  export 
their  cocoons.     They  also  weave  many  fine  silks. 

Asia  Minor  is  noted  for  its  excellent  wool.     The  plat- 


Greeks  of  Smyrna. 


362  TRAVELS  AMONG  THE  TURKS 

eaus  are  covered  with  a  rich  grass  upon  which  large 
flocks  of  sheep  and  goats  are  fed.  This  is  the  home  of 
the  Angora  goat,  whose  wool,  called  mohair,  is  about  the 
finest  known. 

We  watch  the  people  of  the  villages  weaving  the  goat's 
hair  and  sheep's  wool  into  rugs,  just  as  we  saw  them  doing 
in  Persia.  They  work  in  their  homes  on  rude  looms, 
before  which  they  kneel  or  sit  cross-legged.  Several  are 
often  employed  upon  a  single  rug,  each  taking  a  section  of 
the  pattern.  The  fine  rugs  are  made  entirely  by  hand,  the 
tufts  of  wool  being  tied  together  and  fastened  to  the 
threads  without  the  aid  of  the  shuttle.  Such  rugs  are  as 
soft  as  the  best  of  our  machine-made  carpets,  and  their 
colors  are  better.  A  good  workman  can  weave  only  three 
or  four  square  inches  a  day,  and  a  hearth  rug  of  the  best 
quality  requires  months  of  continuous  labor. 

But  let  us  visit  some  of  the  farm  villages.  The  farmers 
live  in  little  houses  of  stone  or  sun-dried  brick.  The  roofs 
are  flat,  and  the  windows  are  mere  holes  in  the  walls.  In 
Armenia  the  houses  are  often  built  either  wholly  or  partly 
under  the  ground.  An  excavation  is  made  in  the  side  of  a 
hill,  and  the  building  is  so  erected  within  it  that  one  can 
hardly  tell  it  is  there  unless  he  sees  it  from  the  front. 
Such  houses  are  usually  of  one  story,  and  their  flat  roofs 
are  often  covered  with  two  or  three  feet  of  earth  on  which 
the  grass  grows.  There  are  no  fences  about  the  roofs, 
and  the  cattle  and  sheep  may  be  seen  grazing  on  the  very 
tops  of  the  houses.  The  floor  is  often  below  the  level  of 
the  ground,  and  we  have  to  step  down  to  go  in.  Upon 
entering,  we  find  a  cow  stable  on  one  side,  and  on  the 
other  a  room  which  forms  the  kitchen,  parlor,  and  sleeping 
place  of  the  family.  It  is  cold  in  Armenia  during  the  win- 
ter, and  these  cavelike  homes  are  easily  warmed. 


TRAVELS   AMONG  THE  TURKS 


363 


The  village  people  have  but  little  furniture,  the  posses- 
sions of  many  a  family  consisting  of  only  a  straw  mat  which 
covers  the  floor,  a  rude  chest  for  the  clothes,  a  few  copper 
vessels,  and  some  stone  water  jars.  The  cooking  is  done 
over  open  fireplaces  or  in  ovens  of  clay  or  stone.  The 
meals  are  served  on  the  floor,  and  fingers  take  the  places 
of  knives  and  forks. 

The  cities  of  Turkey  have  some  large  and  comfortable 
homes.  There  are  many  rich  and  well-to-do  people  in 
whose  houses  there  are  separate  quarters  for  the  women 
and  men,  the  men  guests 
never  being  admitted  to 
those  parts  where  the 
women  live. 

In  the  better-class 
houses  the  quarters  of  the 
women  are  often  guarded 
by  servants.  The  women 
are  not  allowed  to  go  upon 
the  street  without  so  con- 
cealing themselves  in 
blue  or  black  cloaks  that 

they  look  as  though  they  were  walking  about  inside  so 
many  balloons.  In  addition  to  these  garments,  the  woman 
covers  her  face  with  a  veil,  so  thick  that  her  features  are 
hidden.  Indeed,  a  boy  may  pass  his  mother  on  the  street 
and  not  know  her,  and  a  man  could  hardly  recognize  his 
wife  if  he  saw  her  out  shopping.  While  at  home  the 
women  wear  jackets,  and  very  full  trousers.  Their  feet 
are  either  bare,  or  clad  in  slippers  of  soft  bright- colored 
leather. 

Turkish  gentlemen  usually  wear  shirts  and  full  panta- 
loons, and  over  them  gowns  which  reach  from  the  neck  to 


Turkish  Woman. 


364 


TRAVELS  AMONG  THE  TURKS 


the  feet.  In  the  cities  some  dress  as  we  do.  The  poorer 
classes  and  those  out  in  the  country  have  only  full  trou- 
sers and  a  jacket,  much  like  a  roundabout.  The  trousers 
are  tied  at  the  ankles,  and  the  men's  shoes  are  without 
heels  and  turned  up  at  the  toes.  The  jackets  are  often 
embroidered  with  silver  and  gold.  The  Turks  are  cleanly 
as  to  their  persons,  and  the  men  and  boys  have  their  heads 
shaved,  with  the  exception  of  a  lock  on  the  crown.     They 

wear  skullcaps  or  tur- 
bans, which  they  keep 
on  while  in  the  house. 
The  boys  and  girls 
do  not  come  together 
at  parties,  and  the  men 
and  women  are  always 
apart.  Husbands  and 
wives  do  not  eat  to- 
gether. All  marriage 
arrangements  are 
made  by  parents,  who  often  make  the  engagements  when 
their  children  are  still  babies.  Boys  are  usually  married 
while  in  their  teens,  and  as  the  girls  approach  twenty  years 
of  age  they  are  considered  old  maids. 

These  people  are  not  very  well  educated,  but  new 
schools  are  being  started,  and  now  there  are  several  thou- 
sand scattered  over  the  empire.  The  Mohammedan  priests 
are  often  the  teachers,  and  the  mosques  are  sometimes  the 
school-houses.  In  such  schools  the  boys  sit  on  the  floor, 
holding  their  books  on  their  knees  or  in  their  hands. 
They  have  no  desks  nor  chairs.  They  study  out  loud, 
swaying  back  and  forth  as  they  sing  out  the  verses  they 
are  trying  to  commit  to  memory.  The  chief  studies  are 
the  Turkish  language,  and  the   Koran  or  Mohammedan 


A  Barber. 


CARP.  ASIA  —  22 


366  TRAVELS  AMONG  THE  TURKS 

Bible;  they  also  have  some  arithmetic,  geography,  and 
history.  Almost  every  man  knows  how  to  read.  Educa- 
tion is  free  and  the  schools  are  under  government  control. 
The  laws  provide  that  all  children  must  be  educated,  but 
in  many  districts  such  laws  are  not  enforced  and  the  people 
are  ignorant. 


Turkish  Soldiers  at  a  Railway  Station. 

Within  recent  years,  however,  great  changes  have  been 
going  on  in  Turkey.  The  government  is  being  reformed 
and  the  taxes  reduced.  Railroads  are  planned  to  open  up 
the  most  important  parts  of  the  country,  and  in  time  many 
improvements  will  probably  be  made.  For  ages  Turkey  has 
been  an  absolute  monarchy  ruled  by  the  Sultan ;  but  a  few 
years  ago  a  Parliament  was  elected,  and  from  now  on  the 
people  will  make  their  own  laws,  and  to  a  great  extent 
govern  themselves. 


TRANSCAUCASIA  367 


48.    RUSSIA   IN   ASIA. —TRANSCAUCASIA, 
TURKESTAN,   AND   THE   STEPPES 

OUR  last  journeys  are  to  be  in  the  vast  provinces  of 
Asia  belonging  to  Russia.  Of  all  nations,  the  Rus- 
sians are  the  largest  landholders.  They  own  about  one 
seventh  of  all  the  land  upon  earth,  and  their  possessions  in 
Asia  cover  more  than  one  third  of  that  continent.  Siberia 
is  one  third  greater  in  extent  than  the  whole  of  the  United 
States,  including  Alaska ;  and  the  Russian  provinces  which 
He  south  of  western  Siberia  and  north  of  Afghanistan,  Per- 
sia, and  Turkey  have  all  together  an  area  equal  to  one  half 
that  of  our  country. 

These  vast  territories  are  for  the  most  part  thickly  set- 
tled. The  southwestern  provinces  are  largely  made  up  of 
deserts,  and  northern  Siberia  is  as  cold  and  bare  as  northern 
Alaska.  The  countries  are  so  vast  that  we  shall  travel 
rapidly  over  them,  stopping  only  at  such  places  as  have  to 
do  with  the  commerce  and  work  of  the  world. 

We  begin  our  explorations  in  Transcaucasia,  a  beautiful 
little  country  which  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Cauca- 
sus Mountains.  It  is  only  about  four  times  as  large  as  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania,  but  it  has  over  eleven  million  people 
and  is  by  far  the  most  thickly  settled  province  of  Asiatic 
Russia.  The  soil  is  rich,  producing  grain,  cotton,  rice,  and 
tobacco,  and  such  fruits  as  grapes,  figs,  peaches,  and  almonds. 

The  people  are  of  several  races,  and  we  meet  everywhere 
Georgians,  Armenians,  and  Russians.  The  Georgian  men 
wear  long  robes,  pantaloons,  high  boots,  and  cone-shaped 
caps  of  black  wool.  Their  robes  are  belted  in  at  the  waist. 
They  have  rows  of  cartridges  upon  their  breasts  and  pistols 


TRANSCAUCASIA  369 

in  their  belts.  Many  of  them  carry  swords,  and  they 
impress  us  by  their  fierce  looks. 

The  Georgian  women  are  so  beautiful  that  the  richer 
Turks  come  here  for  their  wives.  Indeed,  there  was  once 
a  regular  business  of  buying  and  shipping  these  girls  to 
Constantinople.  But  this  is  now  contrary  to  law,  although 
some  are  still  sold  and  smuggled  out  of  the  country. 
These  women  have  fair,  rosy  complexions,  black  hair, 
large  eyes,  and  white  teeth.  They  are  slender,  with  small 
hands  and  feet.  Most  of  them  can  dance  well,  and  many 
play  upon  the  tambourine  and  guitar.  They  wear  gowns 
much  like  those  of  our  country,  but  their  headdress  con- 
sists of  a  small  round  cap,  over  which  is  thrown  a  white 
silk  or  lace  handkerchief  tied  under  the  chin. 

We  start  at  Batum,  on  the  Black  Sea,  and  from  there  go 
by  rail  to  Baku  (ba-koo^),  on  the  Caspian.  The  road  runs 
through  the  mountains,  passing  Tiflis(tye-fles'),  the  capital, 
a  large  and  well-fortified  city.  At  Batum  (ba-tobm')  we  see 
many  tank  steamers  loading  petroleum  ;  on  the  railroad  we 
go  by  long  trains  of  tank  cars;  and  at  Baku  find  ourselves 
surrounded  by  huge  oil  tanks,  tall  derricks,  and  great 
pumping  works  which  remind  us  of  the  oil  regions  of  Cal- 
ifornia, Texas,  or  Pennsylvania.  The  land  here  is  under- 
laid with  beds  of  petroleum,  and  there  is  a  vast  industry  in 
raising  the  oil  and  shipping  it  to  Russia  and  other  parts 
of  the  world.  The  Russian  oil,  although  by  no  means  so 
abundant  as  ours,  is  our  chief  competitor  in  the  foreign 
markets.  Much  of  it  is  carried  in  tanks  or  in  pipes  to 
Batum,  and  thence  over  the  Black  Sea  into  the  Mediter- 
ranean, whence  it  goes  to  the  various  countries  of  Europe, 
Asia,  and  Africa. 

At  Baku  we  find  a  steamer  which  takes  us  across  the  Cas- 
pian Sea  and  lands  us  on  the  opposite  shore,  where  we  get 


370 


RUSSIA   IN  ASIA 


the  Trans-Caspian  Railroad,  which  carries  us  more  than  a 
thousand  miles  eastward  into  the  heart  of  central  Asia. 
Both  the  engines  of  the  steamer  and  those  which  pull  our 
cars  use  petroleum  as  fuel. 

We  travel  for  miles  through  deserts,  visiting  now  and  then 
an  oasis,  or  fertile  spot,  where  the  land  is  cut  up  by  irri- 
gating canals  and  where 
every  drop  of  water  is 
saved  to  feed  the  dry 
soil. 

We  pass  through 
Khiva  (ke'va)  and  Bo- 
khara (b5-ka'ra),  little 
countries  ruled  by  kings 
or  emirs  subject  to 
Russia.  The  people  are 
Tartars  and  they  look 
not  unlike  the  Turks. 
They  are  chiefly  farmers 
raising  wheat,  rice,  bar- 
ley, cotton,  tobacco,  and 
silk.  We  find  delicious 
peaches,  melons,  and 
grapes.  The  railroad 
takes  us  through  vast 
fields  of  cotton  whose 
product  is  now  competing  with  ours  in  the  markets  of 
Russia.  We  see  also  wandering  tribes  who  have  flocks 
and  herds  of  goats,  sheep,  horses,  and  camels.  They 
dwell  in  round  tents  which  they  move  about  to  the  best  feed- 
ing grounds.  They  have  also  cities  and  villages.  This 
region  was  the  original  home  of  the  Turks,  from  where 
they  moved  westward  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 


Citizens  of  Bokhara. 


TRANSCAUCASIA 


371 


They  dwell  in  round  tents.' 


There  are  several  other  races  in  Bokhara,  however,  and 
on  the  whole  the  people  look  very  strange.  Caravans  of 
camels  bring  loads  of  freight  to  the  stations,  and  we  see  men 
riding  about  on  horses  and  camels.  The  villages  and  cities 
are  dirty  and  squalid.  The  houses  are  made  of  mud 
bricks,  and  even  the  railroad  stations  are  mud.  We  visit  the 
oasis  of  Merv,  and  crossing  the  great  river  Amu  (a-moo'), 
go  on  to  Bokhara  and  Samarkand  through  a  fertile  irrigated 
country  cut  up  by  countless  canals. 

The  land  rises  as  we  journey  on  toward  the  east.  We 
reach  the  Pamir  (pa-mer'),  which  is  one  of  the  highest  coun- 
tries of  the  world,  and  then  move  northward  over  a  plateau 
through  Russian  Turkestan  on  our  way  to  Siberia.  Our 
train  takes  us  by  Tashkend  on  to  the  great  body  of  salt  water, 
known  as  the  Aral  Sea,  and  thence  across  the  Kirghiz 
Steppes,  where  we  meet  the  Tartar  herders  and  shepherds 


372  RUSSIA  IN  ASIA 

who  form  its  inhabitants.  They  are  known  as  Kirghiz. 
They  are  one  of  the  nomad  races  of  Asia,  numbering  more 
than  three  millions.  Their  country  is  about  one  third  as 
large  as  Russia  in  Europe. 

The  Kirghiz  have  vast  herds  of  camels,  sheep,  horses, 
and  cows.  They  dwell  in  circular  tents  covered  with  felt, 
and  move  about  from  one  pasture  field  to  another.  They 
are  proud  of  being  stock  breeders  rather  than  farmers. 

These  people  remind  us  of  our  American  Indians, 
and  also  of  the  Tartars  north  of  the  Great  Wall  of  China. 
They  have  high  cheek  bones,  small,  oblique  eyes,  and 
skin  the  color  of  copper.  Both  men  and  women  wear 
yellow  or  red  leather  trousers,  and  over  them  a  long  robe 
much  like  a  dressing  gown.  The  trousers  and  robe  are 
tied  in  by  a  belt  at  the  waist.  In  addition  to  these  gar- 
ments the  women  have  a  close-fitting  shirt.  They  are 
fond  of  jewelry,  and  paint  and  powder  their  faces,  braid- 
ing ribbons  and  horsehair  into  their  hair  to  make  it  seem 
longer. 

The  Kirghiz  have  many  odd  customs.  Girls  are  usually 
wedded  at  fifteen  or  younger,  and  the  groom  has  to  pay 
for  the  bride,  giving  her  parents  a  certain  number  of  sheep, 
horses,  or  camels  before  the  marriage  takes  place.  A  poor 
and  rather  homely  girl  is  often  sold  for  one  or  two  camels ; 
but  a  beautiful  rich  one  may  bring  as  much  as  fifty  camels 
or  one  hundred  sheep. 

Among  these  people  the  wife  does  the  most  of  the 
work.  She  puts  up  and  takes  down  the  tents  and  loads 
them  upon  the  camels  when  the  tribe  moves  to  a  new 
feeding  ground.  She  aids  in  watching  the  stock,  and 
is  expected  to  do  all  the  milking.  This  is  a  great  task ; 
for  not  only  the  cows  but  also  the  sheep,  goats,  and  mares 
are  milked.     The  cows,  sheep,  and  goats  are  milked  only 


SIBERIA 


373 


morning  and  evening,  but  the  mares  are  milked  three 
times  a  day.  One  of  their  chief  dainties  is  kiimiss, 
which  comes  from  mare's  milk.  It  is  a  liquor  made  by 
putting  the  milk  into  a  leather  bag,  and  keeping  it  there 
for  about  two  weeks,  during  which'  time  it  is  frequently 
shaken.  It  soon  ferments,  producing  a  drink  which  tastes 
somewhat  like  buttermilk,  but  which  will  intoxicate  one  if 
he  takes  over  much. 


mares  are  milked.' 


>>»;< 


49.     RUSSIA   IN   ASIA.     SIBERIA 

WE  are  traveling  this  morning  on  the  great  Trans- 
Siberian  Railroad.  We  reached  it  at  Chelyabinsk 
(chel-ya-bensk'),  a  station  which  is  sometimes  called  the 
western  gate  to  Siberia.  It  is  situated  on  the  eastern  slope 
of  the  Ural  Mountains,  being  surrounded  by  groves  of  birch 
trees.  It  has  railroad  shops,  round  houses  for  engines,  and 
manufacturing  establishments. 


374 


RUSSIA  IN  ASIA 


A  few  hours  after  our  arrival  we  bought  tickets  for  Vla- 
divostok and  return,  and  we  are  now  coming  back  from  a 
trip  over  this,  the  longest  continuous  line  of  railroad  in  the 
whole  world.  The  road  is  more  than  five  thousand  miles 
long,  and  with  its  Asiatic  and  European  connections  many- 
thousand  miles  longer.  It  extends  from  the  Ural  Moun- 
tains to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  from  Harbin,  Manchuria,  a 


Russian  Emigrants. 

branch  line  goes  south  to  Mukden  and  to  Dairen  on  the 
Yellow  Sea.  The  latter  is  sometimes  called  the  Chinese 
Eastern  Railroad.  It  connects  at  Mukden  with  the  rail- 
roads of  China  and  Korea,  so  that  one  can  now  go  by  the 
Trans-Siberian  to  Peking,  or  to  Fusan  on  the  lower  end  of 
the  Korean  peninsula,  from  where  a  few  hours  by  ferry 
will  put  him  on  the  Japanese  railroads. 


SIBERIA  375 

The  Trans-Siberian  Railroad  is  one  of  the  chief  trade 
routes  of  Asia.  It  carries  to  Europe  much  of  the  tea,  silk, 
and  other  products  which  were  formerly  transported  by- 
sea.  It  has  many  passengers ;  for  by  it  one  can  go  from 
Peking  to  London  in  less  time  than  he  can  cross  the  Pa- 
cific and  besides  there  is  no  seasickness  to  fear. 

Our  journey  is  comfortable.  The  train  carries  first 
and  second  class  compartment  cars  which  have  excellent 
beds.  We  have  a  dining  car  whose  tables  are  supplied 
with  fresh  fish  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  from  Lake 
Baikal  and  the  many  rivers  we  cross.  We  have  excellent 
butter  and  eggs  from  the  farms  near  the  stations,  and  also 
beef,  pork,  mutton,  and  chicken,  as  well  as  venison,  wild 
duck,  and  other  kinds  of  game. 

Going  eastward  during  the  first  part  of  our  travels,  we 
cross  a  cheerless  plain  spotted  with  salt  lakes  and  marshes, 
the  Steppes  of  western  Siberia.  Here  the  country  is  much 
like  that  of  the  Kirghiz  which  we  have  just  left.  We  stop 
awhile  at  Omsk  on  the  Irtish  River,  and  thence  ride  on 
to  Tomsk  on  the  Ob  (6b).  Both  are  small  but  fast- 
growing  cities,  inhabited  by  Russians.  They  have  fine 
homes  and  good  stores  and  are  centers  of  trade. 

Crossing  the  Ob  on  a  bridge  a  half  mile  long,  we 
travel  more  than  eleven  hundred  miles  farther  to  Irkutsk 
on  the  Angara  (an-ga'ra),  about  two  hours  from  Lake 
Baikal  (bl-kal').  Here,  in  almost  the  center  of  southern 
Siberia,  is  another  large  city  with  banks,  stores,^  hotels, 
libraries,  and  schools.  The  place  is  lighted  by  electricity 
and  its  streets  are  wide  and  well  paved. 

We  stop  over  a  train  to  fish  in  Lake  Baikal.  It  is  one  of 
the  deepest  bodies  of  fresh  water  known.  It  is  twice  as 
large  as  Lake  Ontario  and  more  than  half  again  as  large 
as  Lake  Erie.     The  country  about  is  covered  with  forests, 


376 


RUSSIA  IN  ASIA 


but  east  and  west  of  it  are  vast  plains  some  of  which 
are  already  settled  by  farmers.  There  are  extensive  grass 
lands  and  great  fields  of  wheat.  There  are  many  villages 
of  log  cabins  put  up  by  the  Russians  who  go  out  from 
them  to  their  work  in  the  fields.  We  are  told  that  they 
hold  the  lands  in  common,  and  that  the  elders  of  the 
towns  divide  the  various  tracts  among  the  people  year 
after  year. 


Droshkies. 


We  find  more  settlements  as  we  go  eastward,  and  at 
Vladivostok  see  the  chief  Russian  seaport  on  the  Pacific. 
It  is  a  slice  of  Russia  in  Asia,  containing  a  mixed  popula- 
tion of  about  fifty  thousand  Russians.  It  has  a  regiment 
or  so  of  Russian  soldiers  and  also  many  Koreans  and 
Chinese.  The  streets  are  filled  with  long-bearded  men, 
wearing  black  caps,  thick  coats,  and  full  pantaloons  which 
are  stuck  inside  their  high  leather  boots.  We  ride  about 
the  town  in  droshkies  drawn  by  black  horses  which  gallop 


SIBERIA  377 

like  mad.     We  do  not  speak  Russian,  and  we  motion  the 
drivers  which  way  to  go. 

We  visit  the  Chinese  and  Korean  parts  of  Vladivostok ; 
and  now  and  then  meet  one  of  the  aborigines  or  natives, 
descendants  of  those  who  were  the  only  inhabitants  of 
Siberia  before  the  Russians  came.  They  look  much  like 
our  Eskimos,  having  copper-colored  skin,  slant  eyes,  thick 
lips,  and  flat  noses.  Among  them  are  the  Buriats  from 
about  Lake  Baikal.  The  latter  are  full  of  superstition ; 
and  when  one  of  them  dies,  they  kill  a  horse  in  order  that 
its  spirit  may  carry  him  safely  and  comfortably  through  the 
land  of  the  hereafter.  They  are  fond  of  tobacco,  and  we 
see  children  of  eight  or  nine  years  with  pipes  in  their  mouths. 

Equally  odd  are  the  Tunguses  who  come  from  the 
valley  of  the  Amur  and  parts  farther  north.  Most  of 
them  are  hunters  who  roam  through  the  woods  without 
tents,  dwelling  in  caves  or  hollow  trees.  They  have  rein- 
deer, and  they  travel  from  one  part  of  the  country  to  an- 
other on  sledges.  They  are  fond  of  the  animals  and  rear 
them  for  sale. 

Vladivostok  is  one  of  the  seats  of  government  of  Siberia. 
It  has  many  officials  who  know  all  about  the  country,  and 
from  them  we  learn  much  concerning  these  vast  regions 
which  have  been  so  little  explored.  The  land,  as  a  whole,  is 
an  irregular  plain  which  slopes  from  the  highlands  of  Asia 
towards  the  north,  ending  at  the  Arctic  Ocean.  This  plain 
is  made  up  of  three  great  belts.  The  first,  along  the  edge  of 
the  ocean,  is  bleak  and  treeless  and  is  frozen  for  the  most  of 
the  year.  It  is  swampy  in  summer,  but  during  the  winter 
the  Arctic  Ocean  freezes  for  hundreds  of  miles  from  the 
shore,  and  one  might  ride  there  for  days  over  the  snow  with- 
out knowing  where  the  land  ended  and  the  sea  began.  This 
is  the   home  of  the  reindeer,   polar  bear,  and   black   fox. 


(378) 


They  look  much  like  our  Eskimos." 


SIBERIA  379 

It  is  the  land  of  long  days  and  long  nights,  where  during 
midwinter  there  is  nothing  but  darkness,  and  where  the 
midsummer  is  one  long,  long  day  when  the  sun  never 
sets. 

South  of  this  icy  region  is  a  belt  of  almost  impenetrable 
forest,  filled  with  wild  boars,  wolves,  and  other  fur-bearing 
animals.  Here  are  found  sables  worth  more  than  their 
weight  in  silver,  and  ermine  whose  beautiful  white  skins 
were  formerly  used  to  line  the  cloaks  of  kings. 

The  third  belt  is  that  through  which  we  have  been  travel- 
ing. In  many  respects  it  is  like  our  far  northern  states,  or 
the  wheat  belt  of  western  Canada.  Its  winters  are  long, 
but  in  the  summer  the  nights  are  so  short  that  the  crops 
have  enough  sunshine  to  make  them  mature.  This  belt 
contains  rich  farming  land,  and  it  is  being  gradually 
settled,  as  we  have  seen  from  the  many  villages  and 
towns  through  which  we  passed  on  our  journey.  The 
cHmate  is  healthful,  and  it  will  some  day  support  many 
millions  of  people. 

The  officials  we  meet  tell  us  that  the  resources  of  Siberia 
are  by  no  means  confined  to  its  farms.  The  land  contains 
all  sorts  of  minerals.  In  almost  every  district  gold  is  known 
to  exist.  There  are  valuable  mines  of  gold  quartz  in  the 
Altai  and  Ural  Mountains,  and  along  the  northern  coasts 
thousands  of  men  are  at  work  digging  up  the  frozen  land 
and  melting  it  with  fires  to  wash  out  the  gold.  Nuggets 
weighing  as  much  as  a  quarter  of  a  pound  have  been  found, 
and  the  grains  on  the  average  are  larger  than  those  of  any 
other  part  of  the  world.  Siberia  has  plenty  of  coal,  and 
'there  is  one  iron  rnine  in  the  Ural  Mountains  which  is  said 
to  contain  about  two  billion  tons  of  fine  ore.  The  country 
has  silver,  copper,  nickel,  and  lead,  and  salt  and  petroleum 
as  well. 


380  RUSSIA  IN  ASIA 

The  forests  of  Siberia  are  extensive  and  valuable;  and 
its  great  rivers,  the  Ob,  Yenisei  (yen-e-se'e),  Lena,  and 
Amur  abound  in  fine  fish.  Indeed  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  appreciate  the  wealth  of  this  great  land  and  to  think 
what  it  may  become  in  the  future. 

We  conclude  our  travels  by  returning  to  Chelyabinsk,  from 
where  we  get  a  direct  railroad  line  to  Moscow  and  Warsaw. 
From  Warsaw  a  fast  train  takes  us  to  Paris,  and  we  spend 
a  day  or  so  at  the  French  capital.  After  that  we  travel 
across  the  English  Channel  to  London,  thence  go  to 
Southampton,  and  one  of  the  largest  of  the  ocean  grey- 
hounds brings  us  over  the  Atlantic  to  dear  old  New  York. 


INDEX 


Aden,  335, 

Afghanistan,  317-321. 
Ainos,  29. 

Aleutian  Islands,  21. 
Allahabad,  247. 
Altai  Mountains,  379. 
Amu  River,  371. 
Amur  River,  14,  380. 
Arabia,  333-347- 
Arabs,  338,  344. 
Aral  Sea,  371. 
Ararat  Mount,  331. 
Asia  Minor,  361. 

Bagdad,  349. 

Bahrein,  333. 

Baikal  Lake,  375. 

Baku,  369. 

Baluchistan,  321. 

Bamboo,  162. 

Bangkok,  190. 

Banyan  Tree,  249. 

Bassora,  349. 

Batum,  369. 

Bedouins,  338. 

Beersheba,  352. 

Beirut,  361. 

Benares,  247,  276-285. 

Bering  Sea,  14. 

Betel  Nut,  185. 

Bhamo,  230. 

Bhutanese,  303. 

Biwa,  Lake,  87. 

Black  Current,  23,  28. 

Bokhara,  370. 

Bombay,  252. 

Brahmaputra  River,  234,  297,  306. 

Buddhism,  75,  197,  215,  313. 

Burma,  211-231. 

Bazaars,  220. 

Elephants,  223-226. 

Houses,  218. 

Karens,  231. 

Lumber,  223. 


Minerals,  212. 
Religion,  215. 
Rice,  227-231. 
Rubies,  229. 
Schools,  213. 
Shans,  231. 
Shops,  220. 
Bushire,  333. 

Cacao,  210. 

Calcutta,  248. 

Camphor,  93. 

Canton,  152. 

Caucasus  Mountains,  367. 

Chelyabinsk,-  373,  380. 

China,  111-180. 

Army,  135. 

Bamboo,  162. 

Boat  People,  150-156,  180. 

Bound  Feet,  172. 

Climate,  112. 

Coal,  164. 

Cotton,  113,  160,  164. 

Customs,  170-176. 

Dress,  115,  171, 

Duck  Boats,  155. 

Emperor,  123-130. 

Farming,  156-163. 

Food,  174. 

Games,  174. 

Government,  128-136. 

Grand  Canal,  150. 

Great  Plain,  114. 

Great  Wall,  136-142. 

Houses,  121. 

Industrial,  164-170. 

Iron,  164. 

Irrigation,  157. 

Minerals,  112. 

Money,  125.   j 

Opium,  160. 

Palaces,  128. 

Railroads,  118. 

Rice,  113,  160. 


381 


382 


INDEX 


China  —  Continued. 

Schools,  133. 

Silk,  152,  166. 

Tea,  156-163. 

Tobacco,  160. 

Wheelbarrows,  118. 
Chinese  Turkestan,  in. 
Cholon,  186. 
Cochin  China,  183. 
Coconuts,  210. 
Coflfee,  189,  210,  263. 
Comorin  Cape,  233. 
Cotton,  China,  113,  160,  164. 

India,  263. 

Korea,  95. 

Siam,  189. 

Dai  Butzu,  77. 
Dairen,  113. 
Dzimascus,  360. 
Darjiling,  299. 
Dead  Sea,  357. 
Delhi,  247. 

Deserts,  14,  113,  139,  142. 
Life  in,  333-347- 

Earthquakes,  26. 
Emperor  of  China,  123,  128-130. 
Emperor  of  Japan,  57-65. 
Empress  of  Japan,  60. 
Everest,  Mount,  14,  295,  305. 

Flax,  265. 

Formosa,  23,  29,  84,  93. 
Fujiyama,  25,  295. 
Fusan,  94. 

Galilee,  Sea  of,  359. 
Ganges  River,  14,  234,  278,  297. 
Gobi,  Desert  of,  113,  139,  142. 
Grand  Lama,  313,  315. 
Great  Wall  of  China,  136-142. 

Haidarabad,  254,  287. 

Haiphong,  183. 

Hankau,  150,  152,  161. 

Hanoi,  183. 

Hanyang,  164. 

Harbin,  150. 

Himalaya  Mountains,  14,  233,  295-305. 

Hinduism,  277. 

Hindu  Kush  Mountains,  319. 


Hoang  River,  in,  150,  156,  306. 
Hokkaido  Ibland,  23. 
Hondo  Island,  23,  30,  84. 
Hongkong,  176,  179. 
Houses,  Burma,  218. 

China,  121. 

India,  258. 

Japan,  37,  46. 

Korea,  100. 

Persia,  325. 

Siam,  191, 

Singapore,  209. 

Turkey,  362. 
Huang  Houtzes,  The,  147. 
Hugh  River,  231,  248. 

Ichang,  151. 
India,  233-305. 

Bazaars,  269. 

Caste,  277. 

Child  Marriages,  260. 

Climate,  233,  262. 

Cobras,  244. 

Coflfee,  263. 

Cotton,  263. 

Elephants,  241,  291. 

Farming,  255,  262. 

Government,  236. 

Himalaya  Mountains,  295-305. 

Home  Ufe,  258. 

Houses,  258. 

Irrigation,  268. 

Money,  275. 

Opium,  266. 

Population,  235. 

Railroads,  239. 

Religion,  253,  276-285. 

Rice,  263. 

Taj  Mahal,  274. 

Tea,  263,  301. 

Tigers,  241,  243. 

Trade,  269,  276. 

Wheat,  263. 

Wild  Animals,  240-247. 
Indigo,  264. 
Indo  China,  181-186. 
Indus  River,  234,  297,  306. 
Inland  Sea,  28,  93. 
Irawadi  River,  211,  227. 
Irkutsk,  375. 

Jaipur,  287. 


INDEX 


383 


Japan,  23-94. 

Area  of,  28. 

Army,  61. 

Children,  43,  50,  65-77. 

Commerce,  87-94. 

Dress,  42. 

Emperor,  38,  57-6S- 

Fanning,  77-87. 

Government,  57. 

Harbors,  31. 

Home  Life,  46-57. 

Houses,  37,  46. 

Industries,  87-94. 

Manufactures,  87. 

Minerals,  30. 

Money,  64. 

Navy,  63. 

Parliament,  58. 

Postal  Systenu  63. 

Religion,  75. 

Rice,  83. 

Schools,  65. 

Silk,  86. 

Tea,  84. 
Jerusalem,  353. 
Jidda,  347. 

Jinrikisha,  The,  32,  36,  77,  186. 
Jute,  266. 

Kabul,  317. 
Kamakura,  77. 
Kashmir,  287. 
Khiva,  370. 
Kyoto,  87. 
Kirghiz,  The,  372. 
Kirghiz  Steppes,  371. 
Kirin,  150. 

Kiushu  Island,  23,  84. 
Kobe,  93. 
Korea,  94-1 11. 

Business,  loi. 

Cotton,  95. 

Dress,  96,  103. 

Education,  loi. 

Government,  108. 

Houses,  100. 

Inns,  109. 

Minerals,  95,  109. 

Railroads,  108. 

Rice,  95. 

Tobacco,  95. 


Kuril  Islands,  21. 
Kuroshiwo,  23,  28. 

Lahore,  247. 

Lassa,  309. 

Lebanon  Mountains,  352. 

Lena  River,  380. 

Lepchas,  302. 

Linseed  Oil,  265. 

Lucknow,  247. 

Macao,  178. 

Madras,  254. 

Magellan,  Ferdinand,  11. 

Magellan,  Strait  of,  11. 

Malakka,  Straits  of,  201. 

Malay,  Peninsula,  203. 

Manchuria,  142-150. 

Mandalay,  212,  231. 

Maskat,  335. 

Mecca,  342-347. 

Medina,  342-347. 

Mekong  River,  182,  212,  306. 

Menam  River,  187,  189. 

Mesopotamia,  347-359. 

Mohammedanism,  331,  346,  364. 

Mongolia,  iii,  142-150. 

Mukden,  147. 

Mysore,  287. 

Nagasaki,  88,  93. 
Nanking,  152. 
Nankow  Pass,  138. 
Nazareth,  359. 

Ob  River,  380. 
Ocean  Steamships,  17. 
Oman,  337,  343. 
Opium,  160,  267. 
Osaka,  87,  91. 

Pacific  Ocean,  17. 
Palestine,  347-359- 
Pamir,  The,  371. 
Par  sees,  253. 
Pearl  Fisheries,  $33. 
Pearl  River,  155,  176. 
Pei  River,  114. 
Peking,  118,  122-136. 
Penang,  204. 
Pepper,  206. 


384 


INDEX 


Perry,  Commodore  M.  C. 
Persia,  321-333- 
Philippine  Islands,  11. 
Pingyang,  109. 
Port  Arthur,  113. 

Rajputana,  287. 
Rangoon,  212. 

Golden  Pagoda,  216. 
Red  River,  183. 
Rice,  Burma,  227-231. 

China,  113,  160. 

India,  263. 

Japan,  83. 

Siam,  189. 
Rubber,  210. 
Rug  Making,  362. 
Russia  in  Asia,  367-380. 

Saigon,  183. 
Saigon  River,  183. 
Sal  win  River,  212. 
Samaria,  359. 
Samarkand,  371. 
Seoul,  94,  100,  113. 
Shanghai,  152. 
Shanhaikwan,  140. 
Sharon,  Plain  of,  351. 
Shikoku,  23,  84. 
Shintoism,  75. 
Siam,  187-201. 

CUmate,  187. 

Cotton,  189. 

Dress,  193. 

Forests,  189. 

Government,  194. 

Houses,  191. 

Laos,  187. 

Minerals,  189. 

Population,  187. 

Religion,  197. 

Rice,  189. 

Tobacco,  189. 

White  Elephants,  197. 
Siam,  Gulf  of,  191. 
Siberia,  373-380. 
Silk,  China,  152,  166. 

Japan,  86. 

Manchuria,  146. 
Simla,  305. 


33. 


Sinai  Peninsula,  338. 
Singapore,  201-210. 

Coffee,  210. 

Houses,  209. 
Smyrna,  361. 
Songdo,  109. 
Soroban,  The,  69. 
Sumida  River,  37. 
Sungari  River,  150. 

Tabriz,  331. 
Taj  Mahal,  274. 
Tartars,  124. 
Tea,  China,  156-163. 

India,  263,  301. 

Japan,  84. 
Teheran,  328. 
Tibet,  III,  113,  306-316. 
Tientsin,  113,  117. 
Tiflis,  369. 

Tigers,  203,  241,  243. 
Tin,  207. 

Tobacco,  146,  160,  189. 
Tokyo,  35-46. 
Tokyo  Bay,  36. 
Tonkin,  183. 
Towers  of  Silence,  252. 
Transcaucasia,  367. 
Trans-Siberian  Railroad,  146,  161,  373, 

375- 
Tsingchau,  178. 
Turkey,  360-366. 


Uji,  84. 

Ural  Mountains,  373,  379. 

Urga,  143. 

Vladivostok,  374,  376. 
Volcanoes,  25. 

Wakamatsu,  88. 
Weihaiwei,  177. 

Yafa,  349. 
Yalu  River,  iii. 
Yangtze  River,  14,  in 
Yemen,  337- 
Yenisei  River,  380. 
Yezo,  23,  29. 
Yokohama,  3i-3S« 


C50,  156,  306. 


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